When his senior officer arrived at the police headquarters, he took a similar view. The squat Gestapo officer with bad skin and a Swabian accent was dismissed on the spot. At one point his senior officer pinned him against the wall. ‘I promise you that within twenty-four hours you will be on your way to the Eastern Front: see how many fucking meal breaks you get there!’

Jens’s boss agreed that his officer had, quite uncharacteristically, made a serious error, albeit one arising through a misunderstanding. Jens would of course resign and no further action would be taken against him.

And all this time Hanne Jakobsen was not involved. Her name was never mentioned, and the Gestapo had no idea who she was.

They decided this was an example of typical Danish incompetence. They’d find Jesper Holm sooner or later anyway, and at least they now knew he was in Copenhagen. After all, how long could a British agent survive once his identity had been blown?

Early the following evening, Hanne appeared, as silently as ever. She looked for all the world like a busy housewife returning home, a shopping bag in each hand and even a pleasant smile to greet him. But she didn’t say a word until she’d double-bolted the front door and led him into the lounge, taking her usual seat in the large armchair, tucking her legs under her and lighting a cigarette.

‘I cannot believe we got away with that,’ she said eventually, shaking her head in disbelief. There was another period of silence, during which she pulled hard on her cigarette before finishing it and lighting another one. Prince began to say something, but she held up a hand, as if stopping traffic. Wait, let me speak. ‘Thank Christ I told you my real name. I knew it was a risk, but if I hadn’t… who knows what the Gestapo would have done to you by now. And who knows what you’d have told them.’

‘You can trust me, I wouldn’t have—’

‘Wouldn’t have what – told them anything? Listen: those bastards at Kampmannsgade have broken the most hardened resistance fighters in a matter of hours. You cannot begin to imagine what they do to you. By now, everything could have been blown – you, me, Agent Horatio, the people who helped you in Esbjerg and on the way here. As it is…’

She paused again, walked over to the window and pulled the drawn curtains aside before returning to her chair.

‘As it is… what?’

‘As it is, the situation is bad enough. Potentially, I’m compromised. Fortunately, Jens is to be trusted: he won’t say anything. He’s not a well man and he wasn’t far from retirement as it is, so for him to lose his job over this is a very small price to pay. He’s the only one who’s really aware of my connection with you.’