The children ran forward, forming a circle as Austin entered the school. The playground had fallen silent. No doubt fearing that one of the children might say something out of turn, it was entirely possible that none of them had ever seen a black man before, an official spoke up, smiling broadly to cover the implicit threat.

—Children, you have a very important guest today. This is Jesse Austin, the famous singer. You must show our guest how well you can behave.

Even the youngest children understood the danger these men represented. Austin crouched down to ask a question. Leo couldn’t hear what he was saying. He was already on his way to the entrance.

Once inside, out of sight, he broke into a run, his shoes heavy on the smooth stone floor. He stopped a teacher, grabbing her arms, startling her with his intensity.

—Where’s the director’s office?

The teacher remained dumbstruck, staring at Leo’s uniform. Leo shook her.

—Where?

She pointed to the end of the corridor.

Leo burst into the room, causing the school director to stand up, paling with each second. Leo realized that the poor man believed he was being arrested. He was frail, in his late fifties. His lips were squeezed thin with anxiety. There wasn’t much time.

—I’m Officer Demidov. I need to know everything about a teacher working here. She’s called Lena.

The director sounded like a frightened child.

—A teacher?

—She’s called Lena. She’s young, my age.

—You’re not here for me?

Leo snapped:

—No, I’m not. I’m here for a woman called Lena. Hurry up!

The old man seemed to come alive with these words – someone else was in trouble, not him. He stepped around the front of his desk, keen to be as helpful as possible. Leo glanced towards the door.

—Lena, you say?

—Her subject is politics.

—A teacher called Lena? I’m sorry: you have the wrong school. There are no teachers called Lena here.

—What?

—There are no teachers called Lena working here.

Leo was shocked.

—But I saw her books. They had the name of this school written across them.

Grigori opened the door, hissing a warning:

—They’re coming!

Leo was sure of the school. Where was the mistake? She’d told him her name. Her name! That was the lie.

—How many teach politics?

—Three.

—A young woman among them?

—Yes.

—What is her name? Do you have a photograph of her?

—In the files.

—Hurry!

The director found the relevant file. He handed it to Leo. Before he could look through it, Grigori opened the door again. Austin and the officials entered the room. Leo turned to address them:

—Director, I’d like to introduce you to Jesse Austin, our guest. He wants to inspect a Soviet school before returning to America.