‘And in yours?’ the Chief Inspector asked.

‘War is war. There are no good guys. There are no bad guys. There are only people after different outcomes. Generals, majors and lieutenants speak in terms of ideals, but what they really want is cannon fodder – an endless supply of people willing to die for another man’s idea until that idea is realised. The truth is that that idea is rarely realised – at least, not in its original form. In a way, we saved those young men and women seeking to fight for their country from ever learning that they were willing to die for an empty promise – for nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. I saw the mass graves many of them ended up in, most of them never having had the chance to fight for what they believed in – they were not even afforded that dignity … that honour. We, at least, made them die for something. Their internal organs allowed others in various parts of the world – people who valued their lives – to go on living. Their deaths gave the gift of life.’ Dr Mabuse said all this in a voice that lacked compunction.

‘You mean … you harvested their organs?’ the Chief Inspector said incredulously, letting his inscrutable façade slip.

‘Yes. Mostly from those who had been badly maimed and were in a lot of pain. Make of that what you will. Disabled people are treated abominably in this country, and the sale of body parts is a lucrative international business,’ Dr Mabuse said plainly. ‘At a time when what was expected was death, we gave life.’

‘What you did was murder innocent people so as to profit from their deaths.’

‘Innocent? How very black-and-white you are, Chief Inspector. What they were doing was fighting for nothing, and what we did was give their lives a purpose – meaning. Good or bad, right or wrong: in your profession, that is how you have to think. I don’t think like that. I think in terms of good and bad, right and wrong. They don’t ask for complete allegiance. Something can be both good and bad, right and wrong, and that is all there is to it.’

The Chief Inspector was silent for a long time before he said, ‘And Daisy? How do you justify killing her?’