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sorry,’ he assured Cadel. ‘You’ve done very well.’ Almost to himself, the detective then remarked, ‘Not that it matters about Vadi or Nikolai. They’ve gone underground.’ He folded his arms. ‘Or underwater, perhaps.’
    Cadel managed a faint half-smile. Then he said, ‘Mr Greeniaus?’ and paused for a moment.
    The detective watched him. So did Fiona.
    ‘Do you – I mean, have you ever met Prosper English?’ was the question that Cadel finally put to Saul, who hesitated before replying.
    ‘Yes, I have.’
    Cadel didn’t know how to phrase his next query. But he didn’t have to; Saul apparently read his mind.
    ‘We don’t talk about you,’ the detective revealed. ‘Prosper is always very careful not to display much interest in you, Cadel. I suppose if he did, it might support your claim that he’s your father.’
    Cadel nodded. He cleared his throat, painfully conscious of Fiona’s troubled scrutiny. Then Hazel knocked on his door again.
    Her voice sounded higher than usual.
    ‘Uh – excuse me?’ she trilled. ‘Can I interrupt?’ Without waiting for an answer, she poked her head into the room. Her tight grey curls were uncharacteristically ruffled. Her small green eyes looked anxious. ‘There are police here,’ she blurted out. ‘They’re asking after Cadel.’
    Mr Greeniaus instantly rose, clicking off his cassette recorder. Fiona gaped.
    ‘I told them that the police were here already,’ a flustered Hazel continued. ‘I didn’t know what to say.’
    ‘Don’t worry.’ The detective’s manner was all at once very businesslike. ‘I’ll take care of this.’
    He brushed past Hazel on his way out of the room. As he stuffed his recording equipment back into the lining of his jacket, he revealed that he was wearing a shoulder-holster – with a pistol protruding from it.
    Fiona gasped when she saw the pistol.
    ‘For God’s sake!’ she hissed fiercely. ‘How can he . . . ? There are children in here!’
    An image flashed into Cadel’s head: an image of the loaded gun that had once been placed against his temple. It was his most frightening memory, and it still haunted his dreams at night. Of course, Prosper hadn’t pulled the trigger. Something had prevented him from doing so. But that hadn’t made his actions any less frightening, in retrospect.
    To block out what he had no wish to recall, Cadel hurried after Saul Greeniaus – and encountered Janan heading the opposite way. Wide-eyed with fear, the six-year-old shot past and dived under Cadel’s bed.
    ‘What the –?’
    Cadel stared after the silly kid in consternation, before looking around for their foster mother. But Hazel was already in the kitchen with the police.
    Only Fiona Currey had remained behind.
    ‘Oh, dear,’ said Fiona.
    ‘What’s Janan doing?’ Cadel wanted to know.
    ‘Hiding.’
    ‘But – ’
    ‘He’s had a hard life. There was a police raid on his mother’s house, once.’ Fiona returned to Cadel’s bed, and crouched down beside it. ‘Janan?’ she crooned. ‘What’s the matter, sweetie? No one’s going to hurt you.’
    Cadel decided that Fiona was better off without him, and went to find out what was going on in the kitchen. He fully expected to see Saul and Hazel conversing with a pair of familiar men in wrinkled suits and sunglasses. To his surprise, however, his surveillance team were nowhere in sight. Instead, two uniformed police officers – one male and one female – were standing by the fridge.
    ‘. . . complaint from a neighbour,’ the policewoman was saying. ‘About a car following a child down the street.’ She nodded at Cadel. ‘ That child, I would say. From the description.’
    ‘Yes. I see.’ Saul retrieved his identification from her. ‘You should have been informed. This child is a witness. For his own protection, he’s being monitored at all times.’
    ‘Well, we haven’t heard about it,’ said the policewoman.
    ‘No. I’m sorry. That was a serious