‘Ah, Klaus,’ said Specht, showing him to a chair. ‘I was meaning to catch up with you in any case to discuss how the Arnold Southwick case was progressing. I’m sorry I didn’t give you advance warning I was coming down from Berlin.’ The levity in Specht’s tone sounded insincere to Jäger, and it probably was.

‘Not to worry, Comrade Oberst. It was another matter that I wanted to talk to you about.’

‘Oh yes? Fire away, then.’

‘You know the suicide of the director of the sports school from Oberhof, Heinz Schenk?’

Specht appeared to turn his nose up, as though Jäger had just admitted to having dog shit on his shoes. ‘I’m vaguely aware of it. I can’t say it’s any concern of ours – the man was obviously mentally disturbed. He probably shouldn’t have been placed in charge of an elite sports school in the first place. Perhaps he just couldn’t take the pressure.’

‘There was more to it than that.’

‘Pray enlighten me, then, Comrade Oberstleutnant.’ Jäger could remember a time not so long ago when he talked in a similar dismissive manner to his subordinates. Now the tables had been turned on him.

‘I believe Herr Schenk had uncovered something illegal that was happening at the school.’

‘Illegal? Really? What are we talking about – paedophilia or something similar? Was the man involved in that? If so, how are you so intimately acquainted with it?’ The fake smile on Specht’s face did little to disguise the menace in his tone.

Jäger reached into his briefcase and extracted the document Müller had given him – the summary of Kriminaltechniker Schmidt’s findings. ‘Not that, no.’ He passed the document across the desk. ‘This paper outlines the findings of my investigation. In short, children at the school are being administered dangerous, body-altering substances. Already, there have been numerous accounts of serious side effects. In short, that girls are virtually being turned into boys and vice versa.’

Specht took the document and looked at it briefly.

‘Your son goes to that school, doesn’t he?’

‘He does, Comrade Oberst. He’s a promising biathlete.’

‘So you have a personal interest in this?’

‘Yes, but that’s not the point.’

‘What is the point then, Oberstleutnant Jäger? Is it that you carried out some sort of secret investigation without telling me, your superior, when you are supposed to be overseeing the Southwick case? Overseeing it so badly, by the way, that Berlin saw it necessary to send me here to clear up your mess.’

‘That’s a ridiculous accusation.’