‘You can give orders to kill people,’ he said angrily, ‘but maybe you’ve forgotten what a person’s blood looks like.’

He flicked his hand towards Ugo’s desk. Blood spattered across it and up the front of Ugo’s white suit.

‘Human blood,’ said James. ‘Not bull’s blood. That’s what this is all about. People dying.’

Ugo stood there for a moment trembling, paralysed with disgust, then he tore off his stained jacket and looked at Haight. Haight blushed and looked at the floor.

‘Peter,’ said Ugo, rubbing madly at a spot of blood on his shirt, ‘this is your fault. You should have been more careful.’

‘I’m sorry, Count,’ said Haight.

‘Sorry is not good enough,’ said Ugo. ‘Make sure there are no more mistakes, or it will not be good for you.’

‘There will be no more mistakes,’ said Haight. ‘You can trust me.’

‘Trust you?’ said Ugo. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I can trust no one. I am a criminal and everyone who works for me is a criminal. How can I possibly trust anyone? Do not talk to me about trust. In my world power is built on fear. If there is a problem I fix it with a gun or with a knife. I hope you are not going to be a problem for me, Peter. And I hope you know how to solve your own problems.’

So saying he rattled off a string of instructions to his guards and they dragged James out of the room.

Mr Cooper-ffrench was tired and jittery and not a little bit worried. It was gone midnight and he was in the funicular railway car travelling up the side of the cliff towards the dam. Peter Haight was still not back from looking for James Bond and he had had to leave the boys down at the camp in the care of their Italian guide, Quintino.

The sleepy Sardinian guard watched him impassively as he nervously fiddled with his bristly moustache and looked out of the window. He could see very little except the rim of the dam cutting across the night sky. He checked his watch for the twentieth time since he’d been woken up and given the message that had thrown him into such a panic.

At last the car arrived and came to a bumpy halt against the buffers. The guard opened the door and Cooper-ffrench stepped out. Two more guards looked him over, but seemed uninterested in what he was doing here and retreated into the winch-house to play cards and smoke cigarettes.

He looked out across the black waters of the lake and saw the bulky shape of the flying boat sitting at the jetty.