‘I was kept on in the States,’ said Markins, ‘as of course you know. In May, ’38, I got instructions from your people, Mr Alleyn, to get alongside a Japanese wool buyer called Kurata Kan, who was in Chicago. It took a bit of time but I made the grade, finally, through his servant. A half-caste Jap this servant was, and used to go to a sort of night school. I joined up, too, and found that this half-caste was sucking up to another pupil, a janitor at a place where they made hush-hush parts for aeroplane engines. He was on the job, all right, that half-caste. They pay on the nail for information, never mind how small, and he and Kan were in the game together. It took me weeks of geography and American history lessons before I got a lead, and then I sold them a little tale about how I’d been in service at our Embassy in Washington and had been sacked for showing too much interest. After that it was money for jam. I sold Mr Kurata Kan quite a nice little line of bogus information. Then he moved on to Australia. I got instructions from the Special Branch to follow him up. They fixed me up as a gent’s valet in Sydney. I was supposed to have been in service with an artillery expert from Home who visited the Governor of New South Wales. He gave me the references himself on Government House notepaper. He was in touch with your people, sir. Well, after a bit I looked up Mr Kan and made the usual offer. He was quite glad to see me and I handed him a little line of stuff the gentleman was supposed to have let out when under the influence. Your office supplied it.’

‘I remember.’

‘He was trying to get on to some stuff about fortifications at Darwin, and we strung him along quite nicely for a time. Of course he was away a great deal on his wool-buying job. Nothing much happened till August, 1940, when he put it up to me that it might be worth my while to come over here with a letter from him to a lady friend of his, a Mrs Arthur Rubrick, MP, who was keen on English servants. He said a nephew of Mr Rubrick’s was doing a job they’d like to get a line on. Very thorough, the Japs, sir.’

‘Very.’