She would have to risk it. She hopped to the block and, using her nose, knocked the knife to the floor. Now she had to get herself down again, which was easy enough. She gritted her teeth and grasped the handle of the knife in her undamaged hand, then bent her knees and pushed her hands as low as they would go to saw at the cords that bound her feet.

The knife was sharp and within two or three minutes – each second of which felt like an hour – her ankles were free and she was able to stand up. Unfortunately there was no way of dealing with the wrist knots. She wanted to keep the knife though, so she twisted her arms around and tucked it behind her in the waistband of her skirt.

She opened the back door, looked around as well as she could in the darkness. Light came from the barn, but she saw no sign of Frau Kalt. To her left was the road along which she was pretty sure she had been brought here in the back of the van. So that had to be the way to go.

Romy Dietrich began to run.

*

Wilde and Sunny followed Matthias Rieger through the trees towards the main road until they could see a strange glowing light a hundred metres ahead of them. Wilde had a sinking feeling that he knew what this meant but before he could urge them to stop the whole forest suddenly lit up – trees silhouetted against dazzling yellow and white – and then, a second later, they heard the roar of an explosion ripping through the morning air as the fuel tank on the Horch went up. The gunmen had got there first.

‘So,’ Matthias Rieger said. ‘No car. And now they know I am not alone.’

They crouched in the undergrowth, the smell of rotting leaves and damp earth obliterated by the stench of burning gasoline. Wilde was feeling increasingly naked without a weapon. A slender five-foot branch lay at his feet. He picked it up and swung it back and forth. It had a pleasing heft.

‘Are you sure there are only two gunmen?’ Wilde asked.

‘No, I am not sure. Come, I think I have played their game long enough. It is not so easy with three of us, so we must split up. I will take you to safety and then you two must go your own way.’

He changed direction, turning from east to north, and signalled Wilde and Sunny to crouch lower, and to take care with every step. For fifteen minutes they moved like this, slowly zigzagging in a northerly direction. Every few seconds they heard a speculative gunshot. The crack of a rifle, then for the first time a burst of sub-machine gun fire. Every shot sounded like a cannon, the blast echoing off the trees.

‘MP 40,’ Rieger said, listening to the rattle of the machine pistol. His lined face became yet more drawn and his brow creased in thought. Finally he looked up. He had made a decision. ‘You must go to Klara. These men will not give up, so I will lead them away westwards while you turn east. They may be killers, but they are not huntsmen. It is our fortune that they do not know how to stalk prey. But you must get away before full daylight. Then it will be easier for them.’