Branson grinned.

‘What’s funny?’

‘Electra Glide in Blue - you ever see that film? About a motorcycle cop?’ Then his phone rang.

He answered immediately, standing up and moving away from the desk. ‘Glenn Branson.’ Nodding an apology to Grace, he continued, ‘Brian – hi – I’m actually just across the corridor from you, in Roy Grace’s office. Yeah, both cigarette butts, cos I want to know if it’s the same person, which would indicate he was there for a while, or two different persons. OK, brilliant. Thanks!’

He sat back down again, then gave Grace another curious look. ‘You can’t hide it, mate.’

‘Hide what?’

‘You look like the cat that’s got the cream. What’s up?’

Roy shrugged, then couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

‘You and Cleo?’

He shrugged again, grinning even more.

‘You’re not – not – not… ’ he asked, his eyes widening. ‘Is there something I should know? As your friend, right?’

Grace suppressed a smile. Then he nodded. ‘We got engaged last night. I think.’

Branson almost vaulted his desk. He threw his arms around his friend and gave him a massive bear hug.

‘That’s just wicked! The best news! You got yourself a great lady! I’m really happy for you!’ He released Grace, shaking his head, beaming. ‘Like, wow!’

‘Thanks.’

‘So, have you set a date?’

He shook his head. ‘I’ve got to go and do the meet daddy bit and formally ask him. Her family’s all a bit posh.’

‘So you’ll be able to retire and help run the family estates?’

Grace grinned. ‘They’re not that posh!’

‘Wicked!’ Branson said.

‘And you? What’s happening?’

Glenn’s face fell like a dropped barometer. ‘Don’t ask. She’s shagging someone. Just don’t go there. I need to talk to you, man, I need your help, but later. We’ll have a drink to celebrate – and perhaps a chat?’

Grace nodded. ‘What are you going to do about Christmas?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t frigging know.’ He suddenly turned away sharply, and Roy could hear his voice break. ‘I – I can’t – I can’t not spend it with Sammy and Remi.’

Roy realized that Glenn had turned away so that he could not be seen crying.

‘Catch you later,’ Branson said, choked, and headed for the door.

‘Want to stay and chat?’

‘No, later. Thanks.’

He pulled the door shut behind him.

Grace sat still for a few moments. He knew that what Glenn was going through must be hell, made all the worse by this time of year, with the dark, gloomy nights and Christmas looming. But it sounded, from all he had heard, that the marriage problems were terminal. Once Glenn accepted that, however bad the pain, then at least he could start the process of moving forward again with his life, instead of living in a hopeless limbo.

He was tempted, for a second, to go after his friend, who clearly needed to talk. But at this moment, he had to get on with his job. Ignoring another ping from his computer, he turned his attention back to his notes from the briefing meeting.

He stared at the list he had started making, beneath the heading Lines of Enquiry.

Then his internal phone rang. He picked up the receiver. ‘Roy Grace.’

It was Ray Packham, from the High-Tech Crime Unit. ‘Roy,’ he said. ‘You asked me to do a trawl on the Net for organ brokers?’

‘Yup.’

‘Well, I’ve got something that may be interesting for you. There’s an outfit in Munich, in Germany, called Transplantation-Zentrale GmbH. They’re advertising themselves as the world’s largest brokers of human organs. My boss here, Sergeant Phil Taylor, did a spell in the Interpol office a few years ago. He knows the guy on the German desk, so we were able to get a quick check done. I think you’re going to like this!’

‘Yes?’

‘The LKA – the Landeskriminalamt – sort of the Bavarian equivalent of the FBI – have had them under surveillance for some time, on suspicion of human trafficking. Now, this is the bit you will like most. One of the countries they have a link with is Romania!’

‘Brilliant, Ray!’ Grace said. ‘I have a very good contact at the LKA in Munich.’

‘Yes, well, I thought, you know, for what it’s worth.’

Grace thanked him, then hung up. Immediately, he spun his Rolodex and retrieved a card from it. It was printed Kriminalhauptkommissar Marcel Kullen.

Kullen was an old friend, from when he had spent six months on an exchange, about four years ago, at Sussex House. Marcel had helped him a while back, when there had been a possible sighting of Sandy in Munich, and Grace had gone over there for a day, on what had turned out to be a wild-goose chase.

He dialled Kullen’s mobile number.

It went to voicemail and he left a message.

Lynn wished more than ever, now that she was expecting an important visitor, that she had been able to afford to make the downstairs of the house look better. Or at least to have replaced the horrible patterned curtains in the living room with modern blinds and to have got rid of the manky carpet.

She had done her best to make the house look presentable this morning, putting fresh flowers around the hall and living room, and laying out Sussex Life, Absolute Brighton, and a couple of other classy magazines on the coffee table – a trick she had learned from a home-makeover show on television. She had made herself look smart too, putting on a navy two-piece she had bought in a secondhand shop, a crisp white blouse and black court shoes, as well as a few liberal squirts of the Escada eau de toilette Caitlin had given her for her birthday, in April, and which she rationed carefully.

As the minutes ticked by, she was starting to become increasingly afraid that the German woman was not going to show up. It was now quarter past ten and Marlene Hartmann had said, yesterday afternoon, that she anticipated being at the house by half past nine. Weren’t Germans supposed to always be punctual?

Maybe her flight was late.

Shit. Her nerves were shot to hell. She’d barely slept a wink all night, fretting about Caitlin, getting up every hour, almost on the hour, to check she was OK. And thinking angrily about that transplant coordinator, Shirley Linsell, at the Royal.

And wondering what she was getting herself and Caitlin into by seeing this broker.

But what alternative did she have?

She gave the living room a final check and suddenly noticed, to her horror, a cigarette butt stubbed out into the earth of her potted aspidistra. She retrieved it, feeling a flash of anger towards Luke. Although of course it might have been Caitlin. She knew, from the smell on her sometimes, that Caitlin smoked occasionally. That had started since she met Luke. Then she noticed a stain on the beige carpet, and was about to hurry and put some Vanish on it when she heard the slam of a car door.

With a beat of excitement, she darted across to the window. Through the net curtains she saw a brown Mercedes, with tinted windows, parked outside. Hastily, she moved away, walked through into the kitchen, deposited the offending butt in the bin and turned down the volume on the television. On the screen, a couple were showing two presenters around a small semi that was not dissimilar to her own – from the outside, at any rate.

Then she hurried upstairs and entered Caitlin’s room. She had woken her up early, and made her shower and get dressed, unsure whether the German woman might want to examine her medically. Caitlin was now asleep on top of her bed, with her iPod earpieces plugged in, her complexion even more yellow today. She was dressed in ragged jeans, a green hoodie over a white T-shirt, and thick, grey woollen socks.

Lynn touched her arm lightly. ‘She’s here, darling!’

Caitlin looked at her, a strange, unreadable expression in her eyes, a mixture of hope, despair and bewilderment. Yet somewhere in the darkness of her pupils lurked her old defiance. Lynn hoped she would never lose that.