‘Well, it’s ironic, because the stuff Veliko and Snowden got up to doesn’t sound too different from the kind of stuff you do. What is it they say? You can scale any wall – that’s it. In your case helped by the fact that you’ve studded the bricks with hidden toe-holds only you can see. To save the world you need to be able to invade it. You’re all the same.’

‘I’m not a whistle-blower. I wouldn’t jeopardise the security of our country. I wouldn’t turn traitor. I wouldn’t put lives in danger.’

‘You really are one of them through and through, aren’t you?’

‘Aren’t you too? You’ve helped us.’

I straighten my legs, point my toes. ‘I’m an outsider. My motives aren’t the same as yours. MI5 knew what it was doing when they rejected me. I never thought I’d come to feel this, but I’m glad of it now. Some would say the Snowdens of this world make us safer. Zac would probably say that and I agree with him for once. They would say the ones who secretly spy on masses of innocent people, who take away our privacy, they’re the traitors.’ Again, I am struck by the contradiction in Zac, that he should care so much about protecting people from this, but do it to me.

‘Well, you’re right that that’s how Frederick Veliko sees things,’ George says. ‘And it’s probably a view he persuaded your former partner to share. Because here’s the thing. Some of the leaks that have been attributed to Snowden – they had to come from a different source.’

‘You think Frederick Veliko was the source.’

‘We’re certain he was. Those error messages when you plugged Veliko’s name into US government registers?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your searches pinged an alert, Helen. They knew you were making them – it got back to us. Veliko’s been missing since early 2012. That’s a year and a half before Snowden made his disclosures. The US and the UK need to find him. The hope was that Jane could tell us. And Hunter.’

From the start, I pressed Maxine to tell me the real reason why they were so interested in Jane. And Zac. Now, at last, I know.

‘Is it GCHQ, George? Is that who you work for?’

‘Yes.’

‘What’s the real reason they decided to tell me about Frederick Veliko after all this time? And you – why have you finally admitted what you are? Two questions, but I think they have the same answer.’