It was not as much of a risk as it could have been. When he’d had the telephone installed at Frau Moser’s farm, he’d made it untraceable by ensuring all records of it were destroyed.

They came to Gericht Strasse and shook hands as they prepared to go their separate ways.

‘So you have no idea where Martin is?’ Kühn asked.

Steiner shook his head. He’d rather been counting on the schoolteacher to tell him.

Chapter 16

London, October 1945

‘Good Lord, Roly, you are being serious!’

‘Well of course I’m being serious, Tom. If one is to have some credibility with these people, then one needs to purchase… Look, Roland, perhaps you’d care to back me up here?’

Roland Bentley was Tom Gilbey’s superior in MI6, an enigmatic man skilled at the art of standing above any dispute until the last possible moment. He had recently been knighted, and the gossip was that he was about to become the head of a Cambridge college. He looked up at Gilbey and Pearson, the two men sitting either side of him.

‘Perhaps if we calm down just a little bit, eh? Roly, how much did you say the painting is?’

‘The asking price is two hundred and thirty guineas, but I’m of the view—’

‘I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of Joseph Wright of Derby. Have you, Roland?’

‘Wright of Derby? Of course I have, Tom: he is an outstanding painter, perhaps not with the reputation he deserves – at least not among the general public.’ Bentley managed to make the word ‘general’ sound as if he meant uncultured.

‘As I was saying, I’m of the view that two hundred and thirty guineas is something of a bit of a try-on. I have bought fine art before and I’m sure a price nearer to two hundred guineas would be feasible. The point I was endeavouring to make is that if my new persona of Anthony Hawke is to be taken seriously so that I can find out what they’re up to, then his interest in art must be demonstrated to be a genuine one through the purchase of a painting.’

‘If it helps, Tom, the money need not come from your budget; I’m happy to cover it from central funds. After all, it’s not as if Roly’s going to keep the painting, is it? Once this is all over, we can sell it. We may even make a profit.’

They all laughed, and Gilbey said in that case maybe he could see the merit of the idea, and he’d have a word with their man at Coutts and ensure there was an account opened that afternoon in the name of Anthony Hawke.

‘You’ll have a chequebook by lunchtime, and then you can head off to Cork Street. We only had time to give you a fairly basic backstory, as you know, so one hopes they don’t dig too deeply. I doubt they’ll be up to that, though – certainly as long as you give them no cause for concern, eh?’