‘You wouldn’t know how we think at New Scotland Yard, Swallow. We’ve got a proper police force there. Not like this backwater. But let me tell you, we’ve got men there who’d be ashamed to admit they shared your nationality. True Irishmen, loyal to their Queen and their empire.’

Swallow shook his head.

‘You don’t understand a bit of it, do you?’

He nodded towards Evans’s silent companion.

‘Neither do you, I suspect. You’ve no idea why you’re here. You’ve no clue about what’s at stake. And you really don’t want to, do you?’

Evans’s eyes flashed with anger. He crossed the office and flung open the doors of a double-fronted tallboy cabinet.

‘Right. We’ve tried to do this the friendly way. We’ve put out the hand of co-operation, but you’re not interested. So be it. But we’ve got a job to do. Come on, Denis. Pitch in here.’

They started to pull manila files from the shelves, scattering papers and records. When the floor was littered, Evans went to the duty officer’s desk, drew out the drawers and emptied their contents onto the floor. Coombes riffled through the sheets and forms, tossing them to left and right after cursorily glancing through them. When every drawer had been emptied, Evans joined in.

After a few minutes, they gave up.

‘Now,’ Evans wiped his hands together, ‘let’s see how we get on in the rest of this dump.’

Swallow stayed with them as they went at random from one department to the next. Over his head he could hear the crash of iron bedsteads on the floor above as another team searched the dormitory where the single G-men slept. It was clear from the cursory examination of each cupboard and drawer that they did not expect to locate the logs in any of the obvious places. This was simple provocation; a display of power for its own sake designed to humiliate and to show who was top dog.

At one point, as they crossed the landing to the stationery stores, they encountered Kelly and Mallon standing side by side. There was no conversation. The expressions on both men’s faces made it plain that neither was pleased to be in the other’s company.

The operation at Exchange Court took less than two hours to complete. By then, each office, storage space and utility room had been searched. Every cupboard and drawer had been opened. Every series of records had been examined. Each G-man’s personal locker had been opened and checked.

Kelly dismissed his team and waited with Mallon and Swallow in the public office as his men filed out. He glared at Mallon.