It was almost four thirty when Rob became aware of the muted tones of a heavy marine diesel engine. Ten minutes later he caught sight of the large trawler he had last seen in the river in Stade and raised his night vision glass to his right eye. It was travelling very slowly to keep the rythmic throb of the engine noise to a minimum, showing no lights as it approached the quayside at the far side of the river. There was a quick flash of light from the quayside, someone obviously had forgotten to disable the courtesy light of a vehicle. He could now see that the offender was a dark coloured Mercedes Sprinter van which was making its way slowly to the side of the trawler. As it stopped it was partly hidden from Rob’s sight by the boat so he moved slightly further down the river bank. He coul
