‘Nothing on Monday. He went straight to his flat in Marylebone; it’s in a mansion block on Welbeck Street. On Tuesday he went to his club and then took a cab back to his flat. Incidentally, we searched his flat on Tuesday and there was nothing suspicious there, though frankly I’d have been most surprised if there were. Last night he left his office and walked to Baker Street, then took a taxi to Piccadilly Circus. From there he walked to St Martin’s Lane, though according to Treslake, who led the watchers, he didn’t go there directly: he went down Haymarket, into Trafalgar Square, all the way round it, then up Charing Cross Road before cutting across. Treslake said he was using a fairly standard technique to avoid being followed: quite good, but obviously not good enough. He walked slowly down St Martin’s Lane and then hung around the corner with St Martin’s Court, as if he were waiting for someone. After about ten minutes he walked a bit further along and then into Cecil Court, where he was spotted with a young man. They stopped in a doorway, talked for a while and then Treslake said he was convinced Tindall handed the young man a slip of paper. They walked together back into Charing Cross Road, where they split up pretty quick.’

‘How many watchers were there at this stage?’ Hendrie asked.

‘Three, I think. Tindall boarded a number 53 bus and stayed on it as far as Wigmore Street, from where he walked back to his flat. Treslake and one of the other watchers managed to get onto the bus. As for the other chap, he jumped on another bus and just vanished into the night. He must be good: my watchers aren’t used to their targets disappearing into thin air. We’re not MI5, as you know full well.’

‘So when Tindall comes into the office, we take him aside and ask him a few questions, eh, Tom? Seems like he has quite a lot to answer.’

‘I don’t think we have the luxury of waiting for him to turn up to work. About an hour after he entered his block of flats, Treslake was about to call me to see whether they should stay there when they spotted the same young chap Tindall had met off St Martin’s Lane. He appeared out of nowhere and hurried into the block. Treslake called in reinforcements and they’ve been able to watch the building very carefully: as far as we know, he’s still there.’

Gilbey walked over to a cupboard behind his desk. He unlocked it and took out a pistol. ‘We’d better get a move on. A car’s waiting for us.’

Given the speed at which everything happened, Hendrie was surprised how clearly he was later to recall the events of the following hour.