‘Including myself,’ Holland said. ‘Whatever drug I’d been slipped finally wore off and I woke up at four in the morning on Tuesday, with no idea where I was or what was going on.’

‘That sounds like one hell of a sedative,’ Knox said.

‘We know the KGB have been inducing comas and staging fake deaths for years, but we haven’t heard of any cases of it lasting over a week. I may have set a record.’

‘I’ll bet White will want to run some tests on you.’

‘He’s already tried,’ Holland replied, a touch of irritation creeping into his voice. ‘But I have no desire to continue being someone’s guinea pig.’

Thinking about White reminded Knox of the other fear that had been driving him on. ‘Is Pipistrelle secure?’ he asked.

Holland nodded. ‘Now the conference delegates are leaving, the retrieval teams are clearing out our bugs. So far none of them have found anything to suggest the Russians—or anyone else—were listening in too. They’ve also disavowed Peterson.’

‘Hardly a surprise. What about Manning?’

‘He’s going to quietly stand down in a week or so, once I’ve been given the all-clear. He’ll probably be pensioned off with an OBE.’

It had been very quickly agreed to keep Holland’s miraculous recovery and Manning’s departure quiet until after the conference had ended to avoid any awkward questions. The last thing MI5 needed was to make public not only that it had been penetrated by the KGB, but also that their mole had ended up with unfettered access to all the Service’s intelligence and the complete trust of its freshly installed director general.

‘So you’re still DG?’ Knox asked.

‘Can you think of a reason I shouldn’t be?’ Holland replied.

‘No, sir,’ Knox replied, relieved that their shared secret was still safe. ‘What about me?’

‘You have Peterson’s mess to clear up once you’re discharged.’

Another wave of relief washed over Knox. In a few days he’d be back in Leconfield House, working with Holland again. Investigating Peterson’s crimes after his punishment had been dispensed wasn’t the usual way justice was served, but he could live with it.

‘I could use some help,’ Knox said to Bennett. ‘If you’re available.’

‘My fate is still being decided,’ she replied.

‘I’ve already told Finney she has a job waiting for her at Leconfield House if he doesn’t give her one.’

‘He should,’ Knox said. ‘She was right about everything.’

‘You’ll make me blush if you talk like that,’ Bennett said. ‘And I was wrong about plenty.’

‘Miss Bennett has more than proven her worth,’ Holland said. ‘No one else even had any idea who Irina Valera was. People should have paid attention to what she was saying a lot sooner.’

‘Speaking of Valera …’ Knox said.