‘Yes,’ the man says. ‘I feel like we have a lot to talk about.’ He turns back again, looking at Jacob. ‘Just so we’re completely clear on things, you are Karl, right? And you did contact Gabriella Seichelmann?’

Karl. He’d almost forgotten that was the name he used. He nods. ‘My real name is Jacob,’ he says.

Klara follows the traffic to the right, between a park and something that looks like a dilapidated palace.

‘The Royal Palace,’ says the man when he sees Jacob bending to look at it. ‘Shall we do a little sightseeing on our way out of town?’

‘Do you think anyone saw us?’ the woman asks. ‘Is someone following us? Not just the Russians. Anybody else? The police?’

The man shrugs and turns to her again. ‘I don’t think anyone saw what happened. They definitely heard the shots, but I played the whole thing rather coolly if I do say so myself.’

The woman throws a quick glance at him. ‘It was chaos, George. You don’t shoot tyres in the middle of a city without someone calling the cops. The question is whether they saw us or the car.’

‘Who are these Russians you’re talking about?’ Jacob asks.

The man turns around and looks at him attentively. ‘We hoped you could tell us. Please say you know what all this bullshit is about.’

Jacob just shakes his head. ‘I don’t know anything. I’ll tell you what happened to me, but then I have to know who you are. I was supposed to meet Gabriella Seichelmann…’

‘Yes,’ the woman behind the wheel says without looking away from the street and the traffic. ‘That’s a reasonable request, I’d say.’

They weave in and out through blocks full of office buildings, EU flags and straight roads, while Klara and George tell their story. About how it started a few days ago when Gabriella Seichelmann was arrested in Stockholm, and Klara received a letter from her about this meeting.

They don’t seem to be a couple; in fact they make a point of telling him they’re just old friends. But there’s something about the way they talk to each other, look at each other, that makes Jacob wonder if maybe they just haven’t realized that they’re in love.

They’ve entered a long tunnel, which ends just as they finish their short story.

‘So that’s all we know,’ Klara says. ‘Which is to say basically nothing. Gabi has been arrested, and it seems like the Russians are mixed up in it.’

‘And that you probably have something to do with it,’ George says. ‘Now, we’re hoping you can explain to us what the hell is going on. What happened to Gabriella.’

Jacob takes a deep breath. ‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘I don’t know what happened to Gabriella, but I can tell you what happened to me.’

24 November

Brussels