‘My mouth’s throbbing, but there’s nothing wrong with my legs,’ Marc said, as he leaned on the side of an armchair and pulled himself off the floor. He felt light-headed, but he was starting to get control over his shaking hands.

‘I have to go to the Hotel Etalon and get to Mannstein,’ Henderson said, thinking aloud. ‘Then get down to Tours and find those kids before Potente gets hold of them.’

‘Maybe I can help,’ Marc said determinedly. ‘I can’t stay here and they’ve stolen all my money.’

‘You look pretty tough,’ Henderson said uncertainly. ‘And I could do with a hand, but …’

‘They ripped out my tooth,’ Marc spat. ‘Give me a gun and I’ll blow their bastard heads off.’

‘It’s not a game, kid. The Gestapo kill people like that,’ Henderson said, clicking his fingers for effect. ‘I can give you a couple of thousand francs and drop you off somewhere across town. The way things are you should find another empty house easily enough.’

‘I never did anything to them,’ Marc continued. ‘I want to get them back. I know I’m just a kid, but I’m clever. I won’t mess up, I swear.’

Henderson sucked air between his teeth as he weighed up Marc’s offer. He didn’t like the idea of putting a boy in danger, but he was exhausted and didn’t fancy entering Gestapo headquarters alone.

‘If the Gestapo catch you they’ll torture you, then stick you up against a post and shoot you through the head,’ Henderson warned.

Marc smiled awkwardly. ‘We’d better not get caught then.’

‘OK …’ Henderson said, half smiling. ‘Let me think for a few seconds. The Gestapo have only just arrived in town, and that’s our main advantage. Potente is the only one who knows what I look like and he’s gone south to Tours. With luck we can sneak into the hotel, find Mannstein’s room and kill him.’

‘I thought we’d be helping him to escape,’ Marc gasped.

Henderson shook his head. ‘We’ve already negotiated with Mannstein and invited him back to Britain. He chose to work with the Nazis and he won’t change his mind now.’

‘That was another thing that got mentioned,’ Marc said. ‘They’ve told Mannstein that he’s going to Hamburg, but Oberst Hinze is actually sending him to some place in Poland.’

‘A special labour camp, most likely.’ Henderson nodded. ‘Clarke and I told Mannstein that the Nazis would never treat a French Jew with any kind of respect, but he didn’t believe us. He’s like an awful lot of people who get taken in by Nazi promises, whilst turning a blind eye to the fact that they’re a bunch of racist thugs.’