‘There’s nobody upstairs either,’ the other officer added, as he ran back down the stairs. ‘But the bed is ruffled, as if it was slept in recently, and there are damp clothes hanging over the bath – either a boy or a very small man. I’d say they were washed out late last night or early this morning.’

Marc’s heart thumped as the four men stood in the doorway less than five metres away.

‘A boy,’ the Oberst said, stroking his chin curiously. ‘Find the boy, and whatever neighbours you can. Interrogate them. Use force if necessary, but our orders are to behave as gentlemen until the occupation of Paris is complete. So if you have to make a mess, make sure you clean it up.’

‘Yes, Herr Oberst,’ the officer said, before heading out of the front door and calling to a couple of regular soldiers who now stood by the front gate.

‘We must search carefully,’ Herr Potente said, warning the two officers. ‘When we captured the British spies we found several booby traps. One of my men lost three fingers when a filing cabinet blew up on him.’

The Oberst nodded. ‘Then be careful everyone, but don’t waste time. Obergruppenführer Heydrich is taking a personal interest in the Mannstein affair. He’s extremely unhappy that Digby Clarke made it out of Paris.’

‘I spoke with Mannstein at the hotel late last night,’ Potente said. ‘He’s disappointed that his drawings were stolen by Clarke, but he says he’ll be able to recreate them within weeks.’

‘But we don’t want the British getting the plans out of France,’ the Oberst shouted. ‘And I want Henderson before he can recruit new spies. If we don’t capture Henderson, Clarke and the plans, I’m going to make sure that your next posting is a very unpleasant one, Herr Potente. Is that understood?’

‘Yes, Herr Oberst,’ Potente said, giving a Nazi salute as the Gestapo officer backed out of the room.

Marc was terrified. He could only understand about half of the Germans’ conversation, but he’d picked up enough to realise that they were prepared to torture him for information.

4Kübelwagen – an open-topped German car, similar to a British Land Rover or American Jeep.

5Oberst – a high-ranking German officer.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Father Doran and his sister Yvette still worked two acres of land around the small farmhouse in which they’d been born more than seventy years earlier. The Father had been parish priest for almost half a century and was one of the most respected men in the area. It had surprised nobody when the elderly siblings took in three orphans and several neighbours had offered help, especially for Hugo, who’d arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back.