Alebayo pursed his lips. ‘Really?’ He looked back down at her papers. ‘But it says here that you work for Agence France-Presse. Mister Kane told me in Lagos just the other day that he worked for The Times, and that he was covering the visit of the British prime minister there.’

‘That was true then,’ I put in. ‘But I got a cable from my editor this morning telling me to get out to the front and find a more interesting story. I proposed teaming up with Miss Dumont here. She agreed to it, as did my editor.’

Alebayo lightly waved Isabelle’s authorization, as though fanning himself. ‘They may well have, Mister Kane. But the Press Office of the Ministry of Information in Lagos did not. If they had, your name would also be on this piece of paper, or you would have your own.’

‘Here’s the thing,’ I said. ‘I did have my own, but we had a very bumpy landing and I couldn’t find it afterwards. I must have dropped it.’

‘How terribly careless of you,’ said Alebayo, amused at the flimsiness of the excuse. He folded Isabelle’s paper and placed it back on the table, then gave me a searching look. ‘Do you know David Ashton of The Daily Telegraph?’

This game again. He’d tried it with Churchill back in Lagos.

‘By reputation,’ I said. ‘I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him.’

Alebayo pressed his fist against his chin as if thinking. ‘How about Bill Turner of The Express?’

‘Don’t think so,’ I said.

‘Jack Stern? He’s at The Observer.’

I shook my head apologetically. ‘I’m afraid I’m not very sociable - I tend to stick to my work.’

He nodded. ‘I quite understand. I am much the same.’ He leaned forward in his chair. ‘But here’s the thing, Mister Kane. Those three gentlemen are all staying at a hotel very near here. So are several other British journalists. I took the liberty of calling earlier and asking if any of them had ever heard of or met a Robert Kane of The Times. And do you know - not a single one of them ever had?’ He eased back into his chair. ‘You must be very unsociable.’

There had always been the danger of my cover being blown. I hadn’t designed it for use in the field, and I’d only had time to take the most limited of precautions, namely securing the initial accreditation for Lagos. So it was no real surprise it was coming under strain. I didn’t say anything. It was his interrogation - he’d have to do the work.

‘No,’ said Alebayo after a few moments. ‘I don’t feel your story has a shred of credibility. But I admire your quick wits. The British Secret Service trains its agents well.’