‘Vati is right, Aunt Vicky,’ Lotti said. ‘There are people I can speak to, though. There are always Gestapo agents in the club I’m singing in. Being nice to them isn’t something I generally do, but I can suffer it for Hester.’

‘And Nicholas has his contacts in the Foreign Office,’ Zelda said. ‘The Gestapo aren’t aware it was his wife who tried to interfere in Hester’s arrest. Her name was never taken. The pigs simply left her in the street and drove off. It was only because she’d left a message for Nicholas before leaving for Mitte that he got to her before she bled to death. It means no connections will be made if he makes inquiries.’

‘And me?’ Paul said. ‘What should I be doing?’

‘Hang about Grunewald and Westhafen train stations,’ Max said. ‘I’ve heard rumours that Jews are beginning to be deported from there to various camps. The highest likelihood, though, is that she’s still in Berlin and at Gestapo headquarters. I have a contact who owes me a favour and he may be able to find out for us.’

‘Then let’s stop wasting time,’ Hugo said, his voice frantic. ‘The British Embassy has already promised to do all it can. Somehow, someway, we’ve got to find her. We’ve got to.’

As Claus, Max, Hugo, Paul and Lotti began leaving the room, Berthold said plaintively to Vicky, ‘I still haven’t had a cup of tea, Vicky. I really can’t understand why not.’

‘Can’t you?’ Her voice was so waspish his jaw dropped. ‘Perhaps it’s because your Jewish daughter-in-law has been arrested by the Gestapo, Berthold. Perhaps it’s because Hugo is out of his mind with worry. Perhaps that’s why no one has given any thought to cups of tea.’

Over the years his eyes had grown increasingly myopic and his pebble-thick spectacle lenses had grown even thicker. He blinked at her owlishly through them and then said, ‘Hugo has only himself to blame. He shouldn’t have married a Jewess. Jews aren’t the same as us. They need to be kept separate from us.’

For a long, long moment Vicky neither moved nor spoke. For years she had clung to a vestigial feeling of sadness where the break-up of their marriage was concerned. She had wanted him to find happiness again, as she had found happiness. She had always been concerned about his welfare. Though she no longer loved him, she had always felt affectionate towards him and had always displayed that affection. Now she knew that not only love was dead, but affection was dead too.

‘Vicky?’ he said queryingly as she turned and walked away from him, sick at heart. ‘What is it, Vicky? Why are you so angry?’ And then, in growing frustration, he stamped his foot, shouting petulantly, ‘And why won’t anyone in this house bring me a cup of tea?

‘I appreciate you giving me a few moments of your very busy time, Herr Reichsminister,’ Claus said courteously, mindful of Göring’s new rank. ‘As I explained to your secretary when making this appointment, the matter is personal and nothing to do with House of Remer armament production.’