It was a rhetorical question, barely even that. Gilbey didn’t wait for an answer. ‘When you asked me about Denmark, I may have mentioned how it doesn’t feel safe sending people out there at the moment, how too many of the SOE chaps have been captured. There is an undeniable pattern of the Germans expecting our agents, and this is clearly a concern. I need to get Prince out to Denmark – we have a potential first-class intelligence source out there and he is the perfect chap to assess and run them – but I’m not sure we can risk sending him in at the moment. We need to know,’ he stretched his feet out so the soles of his shoes were just an inch or so from the fire, ‘whether our agents being intercepted by the Germans is simply bad luck, or if there’s a problem with our Danish friends or an informer inside the Danish section of SOE here.’

‘So how can I help, sir?’

Gilbey straightened himself up and turned to face Hendrie, leaning close. He spoke quietly, and Hendrie had to lean forward too to catch what he said.

‘You’re being transferred to the Special Operations Executive. As you know, the SOE was formed out of the Service, though it’s more or less autonomous now. Nonetheless, we work very closely with them and relations are not bad at all in the circumstances. They tend to operate more with resistance groups, while we concentrate on intelligence-gathering, but obviously there’s an overlap and they’ve tended to be responsible for getting our agents into German-occupied countries. I’m sure you know all this, but you may be somewhat less familiar with the structure of the SOE.’

He slapped Hendrie on the knee and beckoned him even closer. ‘The SOE has various departments, but its main work is done through its country sections. The headquarters of the European country sections is at Noresby House on Baker Street. Have you ever been there?’

Hendrie shook his head.

‘A few chaps you’ve worked with in the past are there now – that dreadful so-and-so Arnold, who used to look after our accounts, he’s one of them. However, for obvious reasons of security, the actual sections themselves are based in separate buildings, most of them around Baker Street. The Danish section is not far away in Rodmarton Street. That, Hendrie, is where you’ll be based.’

‘Running Prince?’