‘OK,’ I said, ‘but keep your hands where I can see them.’ I turned to Baaz, my palm wrapped around the grip of the pistol behind me, hidden from the boy. ‘Come in and close the door,’ I told him. He froze. ‘Now!’

Baaz, startled, did as I said. He tripped the switch and the room flared to life. I turned back to Moshe. Under the unforgiving fluorescent strips he looked pale and scared. A film of sweat covered his face.

‘Who is upstairs?’

‘Please,’ he said. ‘The boy. I …’

‘Who is upstairs?’ I repeated more forcefully, cutting him off.

‘His mother. Only his mother.’

‘OK, Binyomen,’ I said, ‘be a good lad and go see Mummy. Grandpa and I have some business to discuss.’

‘Geyn,’ he said to the boy, letting go of his wrist. ‘Ikh vel kumen bald.’

The boy scampered off, across the storeroom and up the stairs, looking over his shoulder before he bolted through the door at the top. When he was out of sight, I brought the SIG around with my right hand. With my left, sandwiched between my first and second fingers, I produced the book of matches.

‘Smoking is bad for your health, Moshe.’

‘Max, what are you doing?’ Baaz was standing to the side of us, slack-jawed. For the duration of the walk back to the traitor’s gate, he’d been pestering me about what we were going to do. Now he knew.

‘Solving an equation,’ I replied. ‘With brute force.’

I winked at him with my left eye, so Moshe couldn’t see. I needed to relax him a little in advance of what was about to happen. I turned back to Moshe. I had a couple of minutes maximum before Binyomen and his mother and whoever else was really upstairs stuck their noses in.

‘What was it you said? “In God we trust, but it doesn’t hurt to have an insurance policy”?’

He put his hands up. I tucked the matches away. He’d given me a little gold, banking on it being enough to keep me at bay. It wasn’t.

‘Please, I …’

‘You know her, don’t you? You know Rachel Levy. That’s why the Shabak was here. Isn’t it?’

‘The Shabak? No …’ I moved towards him quickly, gun up, pushing his bulk against the wall with my left hand before he could finish his sentence. My shoulder flared with pain. We stared at each other. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he coughed. ‘I swear.’

I brought the pistol higher and placed the muzzle in front of his left eye. Then I leaned in, very close, and whispered into his ear.