Charles looked at her. She was not obviously ill-willed and probably had no greater sense of her own importance than was normal among people whose job was to stop other people doing things. ‘So, H&S gets notification of anyone going on an operational trip – who, where and when?’ He tried to sound curious rather than critical.

She nodded happily. ‘Yes, it seems to work quite well on the whole. We don’t know who they’re seeing, of course. Only the code names.’

‘Only the code names.’

‘Yes. And then when we’ve signed it off it’s countersigned by the legal advisor or his or her representative.’

‘I suppose the system was designed for stations such as Kabul and Baghdad where there’s a real terrorist risk?’

‘Exactly, yes.’

‘But I’m going to Brussels.’

‘Yes, well, obviously there aren’t the same risks as in those places but there are some and so it’s important to conduct an H&S assessment in the light of what’s happened in the past and of what might happen in the future.’

‘Such as a bomb on Eurostar?’

‘Yes, indeed, yes.’

He leaned across and took the form from her. ‘And how would this save me if there were?’

‘Well, it would show that we were at least aware of the risk and had taken it into account. It’s all part of our duty of care. You might, in the light of the risk assessment, have decided to fly or go by ferry.’

‘Does there need to be a risk assessment for the embassy I’m visiting?’

‘Which embassy?’

‘Ours, the British.’

‘Oh.’ Marigold’s red lips formed an almost perfect circle. ‘Oh, I am sorry, CSS, I do apologise. If you’re going to a British embassy that is classed as British official premises just like going to a ministry in Whitehall here you don’t need to complete HS37/4/A at all. The notification we got just said “embassy visit” and I assumed it was a foreign one.’

‘So, if I were going to the Luxembourgian embassy I would need to complete it in case that was a dangerous place, but as it’s ours I don’t?’

‘Exactly, yes. Or, of course, if you were doing anything else there like meeting someone, anything operational.’ Charles handed back the form. ‘Thank you, Marigold. I should have been more aware of all this. You’ve opened my eyes.’