‘I may indeed have been more grudging than I intended to be, Prince, for which I apologise. The problem with this business is you can never take anything for granted. Winston says our biggest enemy is complacency, and he’s right. These days I tend to regard victories as simply a matter of avoiding defeat: one barely has time to catch one’s breath before moving on to the next mission. You did very well in terribly difficult circumstances, which I’m aware probably sounds like a serious underestimation of the danger you were in and the risks you took. You got in and out of Germany twice: I don’t think any other British agent has managed that. You’re good, Prince, very good… you’d certainly be one of the first names on the team sheet for the first eleven. This mission was an undoubted success.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Which is a way of saying we’d like you to carry on with us. You’re a first-class agent: you remember how in Matlock I described you as cum laude? Well, you’ve proved me right. You’re wasted in the police, finding house burglars and the like.’

‘I think I’ll need a while to think about it, sir. I had rather assumed I’d be returning to my old job, and most of all I do wish to spend some time with my son.’

Gilbey moved back to the desk and straightened a file or two, then adjusted the Anglepoise lamp. ‘Hang on a moment, Richard, will you. I’m just going to ask Hendrie to join us.’

Prince waited for more than a moment. It was a good ten minutes before Gilbey returned to the room, followed by Hendrie – both men hesitating in the doorway, insisting the other enter first.

As soon as they came in, Prince knew something was up: it was the feeling he’d had when he’d first seen Gilbey, and now it was even more acute. It could have been the tentative nature of their approach, the excessive time they took to sit down and arrange their chairs, the lengthy clearing of throats and other nervous gestures, or quite possibly the fact that neither of them appeared to have looked directly at him since entering the room.

They sat next to each other, opposite him, and another period of silence followed. Gilbey looked at Hendrie, clearly willing him to speak first, and then Hendrie at Gilbey, obviously thinking likewise. The atmosphere in the room was such that it seemed no extraneous noise and little light was permeating it. The temperature had dropped by a few degrees.

Prince broke the stalemate. ‘Is something the matter, sir?’

Hendrie leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs, his hands clasped together. When he spoke, his Scottish accent was more noticeable than ever before.

‘I’m afraid, Richard, there’s no easy way to put this, but we have some terrible news for you.’