Woolf was almost out of his chair. ‘If we do that, we lose all control of what we’ve got! There’s every chance it will get straight back to Stutz and all our leads will go cold. Tom – who’s risked his neck to get on-side with these people – would be blown. We’d be back to square one. Can I ask that we, please, park talking to the Americans at least until we’re further on with Invicta?’

Mandler sighed heavily, his exasperation with Woolf plain for all to see. ‘I don’t have to remind you that this is an extremely sensitive time for our relationship with the Americans. The PM has staked the election on this summit with the President. We’re all going to have to be on our best behaviour for this wretched event. If it comes out that my Service is intimately connected to the deaths of not one but two FBI agents, a lot of toys will be thrown out of the pram, even more if they find we’ve withheld information because we don’t trust them. I hope you follow my line of thinking – I’m only stating the bloody obvious.’

Mandler paused. To Tom, it looked as if MI5’s DG had let too much of his own exasperation with his political masters show. Mandler turned back to Woolf. ‘So how do you propose to get further on with Invicta?’

Woolf had been caught off guard. He hadn’t bargained for Mandler’s dampener. It was time for him to come to the rescue. ‘Go back to Vestey and the shooting in Walthamstow. We know about his connection via his brother to SCO19. I know I said that in my judgement he’s not a good enough shot to have been the perp, but maybe he’s the connection to whoever did the job. You either need to eliminate him or find a stronger link.’

They all looked at him.

‘You have his entire history. He’s at the shooting range most days, isn’t he?’

‘Or doing security for one of his VIP clients.’

‘Right. So why don’t you get him out of the way? And we’ll go and have a look round his place. And the supposed hostel bomber. Are you still sitting on the evidence that he was DOA at the scene?’

Woolf glanced at Mandler and nodded. Mandler shook his head.

‘You do realize the consequences for our relationship with Scotland Yard when they find out? So, the sooner you have something concrete the better. What else do you know about him, other than that he’s one of the returnees?’

Rafiq, who had been studying something on his phone, looked up. ‘We’ve only just tracked down his family. They went to ground after his name was published.’