She nodded slowly once again, but something told Wilde that she didn’t believe this version of events. As she said, she wasn’t stupid, whatever the absurd notions with which she had been indoctrinated.

*

Otto Kalt was not a man to panic, but the disappearance of the girl was deeply worrying. He had never failed in a task given him by Bormann. The problem was that with only Brunner to assist him and hundreds of square kilometres of forest, it felt like a hopeless task.

Every farmhand or forestry worker they encountered was interrogated and sometimes they were fortunate. Yes, they had seen a girl, with a woman and a man – a man with a peaked cap.

And so a picture of his quarry was beginning to emerge. Also the direction of travel. Now they met a Hitler Youth troop, on the road near the site of an air crash, the wreckage still smouldering.

Kalt stopped them with a Hitler salute, his MP 40 slung from his left arm. At his side, and a step behind, the ever-present bulk of Hans Brunner, like an oversized shadow.

‘Boys,’ Kalt said, ‘I need your help. Have you seen a girl with a man and a woman this morning?’

The troop leader shook his head. He was eyeing up the weapons carried by Kalt and his menacing sidekick.

‘Not us. Why, who are they?’

‘Criminals. Enemies of the state. They were last seen heading in this direction.’

‘What did they look like, sir?’

‘The girl is ten, the man has a peaked cap and some sort of uniform. As to the woman, I do not have a good description.’

The boy looked uneasy. ‘Can I ask you, sir, who are you? You do not wear uniforms yet you carry military weapons – are you perhaps Gemeine Staatspolizei?’

Kalt did not bother to lie.

‘No, sonny-boy, we are not Gestapo. But we are working in an official capacity, so you would be well advised to assist us if you can.’ His voice was soft, but the threat was implicit.

The boy stiffened; he had been brought up to respect and obey authority, but everyone was aware that enemy spies were operating in Germany and it was his duty to at least demand to see papers. This man’s sub-machine gun was very persuasive, however.

‘Speak, sonny-boy. Tell me what you have seen.’

‘Well, there was the man with the peaked cap at Frau Spitzweg’s house. He was a Frenchie – a chauffeur, said he was trying to buy milk.’ The troop leader frowned at the memory. ‘And then he said his car was broken down. You know, I hadn’t thought about it before – why did he want milk if his car was kaput? Surely he would have wanted the assistance of a mechanic, not a glass of milk.’

‘But he was alone? No girl or woman?’