‘If you chose those two, it would be a comedy film! Don’t worry, though. They’ll just be Anwärters; that’s the lowest rank in the Gestapo. They’re probably just here for show as much as anything else. This is what will happen next. Very soon that desk over there will open. We go and show our tickets, and they’ll give us another ticket that allows us onto the plane and shows us which seat we’ve been allocated. Then we go through the first security check; you can see the tables just behind the check-in desks. They’ll search your bags, but they do that with everyone. You have nothing on you to be concerned about. Then you go to the Gestapo desk, where they will check your legitimationskort and your travel documents and ask you questions: again, don’t worry, they ask everyone questions. By the way, Peter, I should have asked you: do you speak German?’

‘I do. I mean, I’m not fluent in it by any means and it’s nowhere as good as my Danish, but it’s not bad.’

‘Don’t use it, if possible. Best stick to Danish. The Gestapo officer will be Danish-speaking but will start off in German. If he has any concerns about you, he’ll bring in a Danish policeman to help him, but they prefer not to do that.

‘It’s usually a Junkers Ju 52 on this flight, which carries seventeen passengers. My guess is it’s pretty full today, so hopefully the Gestapo will get a move on. After you’ve been through the Gestapo desk, we wait in the departure lounge. Then we board the plane. From then on, act as if you’re in Germany. Don’t say anything to me about the mission, however irrelevant it may seem. Any German is a threat.’

‘Do many Germans travel on this flight?’

‘Civilians, yes; military personnel usually take a Luftwaffe passenger aircraft, but occasionally some will be on this one. The Gestapo tend not to bother with them too much!’

They sat in silence for a few minutes. The terminal building slowly came to life. There were hints of the heating having been turned on, and two or three people in bright blue uniforms were preparing the check-in desks.

‘Can I ask you a question, Otto?’

The Dane turned round and smiled. ‘As long as you don’t do it too loudly.’

‘Why do you do this? Helping us?’