Pelletier didn’t let him finish. Just stepped forward and whispered in his ear. Whatever he said, all the blood seemed to drain from Cranham’s face. He looked like a week-old loaf and it was all he could do not to wet himself in his fancy suit.

‘Where’s this all going, Walt?’ asked a man with receding grey hair and a pair of spectacles so thick that they made his eyes look twice the size. His accent was English and very upper-class. He was the sort who could hear a joke and declare it ‘very droll’ rather than laughing at it.

‘You see what we see, yes?’ asked Walt, pointing at the wall where the film had been shown. ‘They are Kaibiles. They are the elite military – the men adored and lauded by a litany of presidents. And they are changing into civilian clothes so that they can wipe out a village and blame it on the paramilitaries. That, in turn, gives President Reagan the excuse he needs to vastly increase government aid and training for the ruling military junta. And Great Britain, as America’s lapdog, turns a blind eye for no other reason than because we wish to stay in the good graces of our strongest allies – those selfsame allies that very nearly ignored our every plea for assistance just a few short months ago as we found ourselves at war with Argentina.’

The man with the straight back reached into his pocket and produced a cigarette from a sleek silver case. He lit it with a match tucked in an invisible pocket, wafting the smoke as he spoke. ‘It is an imperfect world, Walter,’ he said, airily. ‘We cannot only do business with people of whom we are fond. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador – they are integral in stopping the spread of communism. The paramilitaries, the agitators in Guatemala – perhaps they are not responsible for all of the horrors laid at their door, but they are hardcore socialists who could very well give the Soviets a toehold at the front gates of America. We have made pragmatic decisions, decent decisions, done our best to stop the—’

‘You have let us die,’ said Sera, simply, raising her head and letting everybody see her big brown eyes. ‘We believe that more than a hundred thousand men, women and children have died in the last twenty years. Their deaths have all been at the hands of the military and those who support whichever puppet president the Americans are given to support. President Rios Montt – your Reagan speaks of him as a force for good; a true Christian man who will bring democracy to our country. He is a zealot. He believes he does God’s work with every life he takes. He is backed by your evangelists. He is supported by your president. Your soldiers trained his elite fighters. Your taxpayers pay for the weapons he uses to wipe us out.’