‘Maybe get on to what happened when the prisoner arrived here, Comrade?’

‘Of course, Comrade sir, my sincere apologies. Prisoner Schweitzer arrived at Special Camp Number 3 Hohenschönhausen on Wednesday the first of August and appeared before a People’s Tribunal on… Apologies, Comrade, I need to find the date…’

‘Don’t worry, Kiselyov, you’re not on trial here!’

Kiselyov looked up, shocked, before continuing. ‘Here we are: Thursday the ninth of August was the date of the tribunal. Prisoner Schweitzer was found guilty of all charges. In a statement he said he was forced to do the work, but of course, all the evidence…’

‘Of course, Comrade. Perhaps you’d now tell us about his sentence and when it is due to be carried out?’

‘Yes, Comrade: he was sentenced to death on… here we are… Tuesday the fourteenth of August and the sentence was confirmed by Comrade Orlov on the third of September.’

‘Why the delay, Comrade?’

‘The governor said he was sorry but there was a backlog and he’d been in Moscow for a meeting and—’

‘Don’t worry, my friends here will be pleased you didn’t execute the prisoner straight away. But that was over three weeks ago, and he’s still alive?’

It was Orlov who replied. ‘There is always a two-week period between my confirming the sentence and it being carried out. During this time the prisoner has the right to make an appeal, though an appeal will only be considered if it is based on a factual error in the conviction. In the case of Prisoner Schweitzer, he claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, and it took us some time to get further evidence from Paris. His execution has now been scheduled for Monday the first of October.’

‘And the prisoner knows this?’

‘Of course, Comrade.’

Gurevich had been translating what the two officers said into German. Prince said they’d need to question Schweitzer urgently. ‘He’s the only person we are aware of who knows the true identity of the Nazi we are looking for.’

Orlov had an owl-like demeanour: his head remained quite still but his eyes darted around, taking everything in, and he came across as wise and unhurried. He said nothing for a while as he removed a cigarette from a packet on his desk and lit it, all the while without taking his eyes off his visitors.

‘I would say no.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I would strongly suggest you don’t question the prisoner on this topic.’

‘But Comrade,’ said Gurevich, ‘I have the authority to order it and I—’

‘Yes, Comrade, of course I know that. What I mean is I would not recommend it. Prisoner Schweitzer is typical of the non-German Nazis we see here – they tend to be more fanatical and stubborn than the Germans. If you go in now and question him about the man you’re after, it will be counter-productive. He won’t say anything. What do you think, Kiselyov?’

Kiselyov looked nervous again but sounded confident in his reply. ‘I would agree: I would say Prisoner Schweitzer is no fool. He knows he’s about to be executed so why should he tell us anything?’