She was physically fit, at least more so than most of the prisoners here. And as hard as the work was, it was now the end of April and the summer was bound to be easier. She’d developed an ability to let her mind take her to places well away from the hell she was in. Being in the fresh air all day reduced her chances of catching a disease, and at least she wasn’t as badly treated as the Russian or Polish women, who were being experimented on, or the Jewish women shipped to their deaths in the east.

The next morning, she had cause to regret her brief lapse into optimism. Everyone in her hut was being reassigned. They were to report immediately to the Siemens factory in the south of the camp, where they’d be assembling parts for armaments. The conditions were meant to be terrible there, the air full of noxious smells making it hard to breathe, the temperature freezing cold one minute, stifling hot the next.

She had no idea how long she’d be able to survive.

Chapter 24

England, May 1943

It was late afternoon on Tuesday.

Richard Prince had landed in Scotland the previous afternoon before being flown on immediately to an airbase apparently somewhere near London and driven to a nearby safe house at the end of a long and narrow lane. The house was surrounded by a thick wood on all sides, the wind catching the trees in a way that made them appear as though they were advancing on the house.

He had no idea where he was, and Hendrie said it was best it remained that way. A doctor was waiting for him, and after a thorough check-up, he announced that Prince was on the mend. ‘Take three of these four times a day for five days,’ he said, thrusting a large bottle of pills into his hand. ‘Just check what it says on the label, I may have got the numbers mixed up. And take this one tonight: you’ll sleep like a baby.’

He must have slept for twelve hours. After breakfast, Hendrie took him into the library and introduced him to a severe-looking woman, who was introduced as Prudence. Her task was to commit to paper everything Prince could recall about his mission. She was skilled at asking the right question at the right time, prompting him carefully to ensure his account didn’t stray in terms of dates and that any questions Hendrie asked were strictly relevant. She wrote everything down in shorthand, rarely looking up at Prince and occasionally holding up a hand for him to pause while she turned a page.

After three hours, she announced they were done and said she’d type up her notes before passing on the report to Mr Gilbey.