‘There is no question she’s telling the truth.’ Hanne had rested her hand on her husband’s arm. ‘Remember I spent more than two years in a concentration camp. There you have to rely absolutely on your instincts as to who you can trust and who you can’t. You learn to spot the stooges and know who’s telling the truth and who’s lying, and more to the point, you also learn to know when people are telling the truth for good reasons but exaggerating, telling you what they think you want to hear. Irène was genuine.’

‘Let me get this straight then – and you’ll no doubt correct me if I get something tangled up along the way. Wilson has a contact in the resistance…’

‘Marguerite.’

‘…yes, yes… who found there was a woman in Fresnes prison called Anna Lefebvre who told you that a chap going by the name Charles Girard might know the identity of the Ferret. So you visited the mairie and—’

‘It’s all there in the report, sir. We met Irène and she told us Girard’s real name is Alphonse Schweitzer and he knows the real identity of the Ferret.’

‘Yes, thank you, Prince, I can read, though I’m not convinced these damn spectacles help. And Schweitzer is a guest of the Soviets in Berlin.’

‘Yes, sir, if he’s not been executed yet.’

‘I’m still not clear why he allowed anyone in Paris to know his real identity.’

‘Nor are we, sir, but he’d obviously been leading a double life for some time, and perhaps he became a bit too confident.’

‘I think,’ said Hanne, ‘that we need to go to Berlin – it’s urgent we find Schweitzer before he’s executed.’

‘Well I agree that’s preferable to seeing him after he’s executed, but I’m not sure we can have you two gallivanting all over Europe, can we? It’s not as if you’re on the Grand Tour. We have liaison chaps in Berlin who can take this up.’

‘With respect, sir, I’m not sure how good an idea that is.’

‘Really, Prince?’

‘I know Berlin, and—’

‘Under the Nazis.’

‘But that’s the point, sir, not just under the Nazis. On my last mission, when I was working for Hugh Harper, I was in Berlin after the Red Army captured it. I know my way around and I have an excellent contact there with whom I have a good relationship. He could be of enormous help. If it wasn’t for him, I doubt I’d have found Hanne alive.’

‘And who is this contact?’

‘Iosif Leonid Gurevich,’ said Prince, as if he was announcing the man’s arrival. ‘He’s a senior officer in the NKGB, which is their security organisation, and…’

‘I do know what the NKGB is, thank you, Prince.’

‘…and he’s a podpolkovnik, which is like our lieutenant colonel rank.’

Gilbey looked impressed.

‘And of course, sir, I did file a contact report when I returned.’

‘Naturally.’

‘So if I – we – can get over to Berlin as soon as possible?’