At midnight, Hanne and Prince slipped away to a hotel the FSS had taken over on Via San Nicolò. They’d only been asleep a few minutes when there was a knock at the door.

‘I’m sorry to wake you, but they’re on the move,’ said Bartholomew.

Evans met them outside the hotel. He’d been on duty when a van had pulled up in front of the hostel on Via dell’Istria and a small group had hurried from the building into the back of the vehicle.

‘Carter and Palmer were definitely among them, and I’d say from the description you’ve given me that Steiner was too. One of the men could have had just one arm, but it was difficult to tell. There was another man too.’

‘Who do you think he was?’

‘Could have been Bormann: he was dressed as a priest. I’ve been staring at his bloody photo all day, but I can’t be sure it was him, but neither could I be sure it wasn’t him, if you see what I mean.’

‘Do we know where they are?’

‘Fortunately two of our motorcyclists were able to follow them: this is quite an easy city to find your way around, as it’s laid out in a grid pattern. They’re not far from here – at the port. Jump in.’

They drove to a warehouse on Porto Vecchio. It appeared to be deserted, but Evans said one of his motorcyclists had spotted movement in the first-floor offices when they first arrived.

They waited huddled in the back of the truck as the port came to life. A salty wind whipped in from the Adriatic, but other than a rusty sign swaying in the wind, there was no movement in the warehouse.

‘Do we know anything about the building?’

‘The sign on the door says De Luca e Figli – De Luca and Sons.’ Evans was looking at the building through binoculars. ‘And underneath that it says Fornitore Navale, whatever that means.’

‘Ship’s chandlers,’ said Bartholomew.

‘I think we should go in now,’ Prince said.

‘No, not yet,’ replied Hanne. ‘If we have the place surrounded, we can afford to wait and see what’s going on.’

Bartholomew agreed. In his experience, he said, it would be better all round to wait for them to come out rather than raid the place too soon.

‘I must say, though, it’s a damn clever location: close to the port and the railway station, and there’s even a seaplane base over there,’ said Evans.

They agreed to wait until the morning. In the meantime, the Field Security Section said they’d check all the ships in the port and see if any had imminent plans to set sail.

Hanne woke before dawn and left the room without waking Richard. She spotted Jožef in a doorway in a side street with a view of the hotel. He stepped back into the shadows and nodded to her, and she spoke quietly, avoiding looking in his direction.

When she returned to the hotel, her husband was waiting for her looking agitated.