The rear of Government House was a rabbit warren of service rooms. The architectural splendour diminished as we went on. We passed through a kitchen and then came into a long corridor with dull marmalade-coloured walls. Negrini pointed. ‘Looks like an exit.’

We came out on to a cul-de-sac that was used for deliveries. In the dying light I saw a row of dustbins and a scrawny cat, which fled as we appeared. At the end of the cul-de-sac, people were running and shouting, and the chanting of the crowd from the square on the other side of the building was intense.

A rush of people burst out of the door behind us, spooked by the noise from the square. It had taken them longer than us to realise that the best way out of Government House was the rear, but there were a lot of them – not only guests from the party, but also servants in white jackets and other staff – and we were pushed back against the opposite wall. From what I could see of their faces in the light from the corridor, panic was really setting in. The wide eyes, open mouths and meaningless noises brought sharply to mind a batch of raw recruits I’d commanded in Korea as a young officer. Terror in human beings is never a pretty sight.

I grabbed a passing figure by the arm. ‘What’s happening back there?’

It was the balding man I had seen talking to Jill at the party. ‘They’re breaking down the front door,’ he said breathlessly.

He tore himself loose and ran away. When I turned to speak to Negrini I found he had gone, jostled aside in the crowd, and the narrow alley was full of running people. In the distance I heard the wailing of sirens.

I flattened myself against the wall again and let them go by. When the first spate had gone, I followed towards the end of the cul-de-sac. In front of me was the limping figure of a woman and when I reached her I saw it was Leotta Tomsson. ‘I thought you left earlier,’ I said.

‘I saw the crowd coming into the square,’ she said. ‘So I turned back.’

‘What’s the matter with your leg?’

‘Nothing. Just my shoe – the damned heel’s come off.’ She stopped suddenly. ‘The hell with it!’ She stooped and took off her shoes. ‘Tonight’s a time to run,’ she said.

We approached the corner. ‘Could be,’ I said. ‘Let’s go carefully here.’