Mama stared at Mr Muller. ‘How long have you been friends?’ she hissed. ‘How much has my husband done for you?’

Mr Muller held his hands out in a helpless shrug. ‘We don’t make the rules, Mrs Grunberg,’ he said, as formal as a police officer. ‘But we have to take him now.’

Papa turned to the men. ‘Just give me five minutes.’

The men looked at each other. Then Mr Weber nodded. ‘Five minutes. We’ll be in the hall.’

The second they left, Mama ran to Papa. He wrapped his arms around her, beckoning me to join them. The three of us stood huddled together in silence for a few moments in the middle of the kitchen. I wanted to stop time, turn those five minutes into forever.

Papa pulled away eventually. He knelt down and cupped my chin in his hand. ‘I’m going so I can keep you safe,’ he said. ‘You heard them. If they have me, they will leave you and Mama alone.’

‘But what if they don’t?’ I asked. ‘What if they come for us too?’

He shook his head. ‘It’s me they want. You are the man of the house now. You look after your mother. You do everything you can to help her. You hear me? You promise me?’

‘Yes, Papa. Of course I promise.’

He pulled me in for one last hug before standing up again. He spoke quickly, in a low, rough voice. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘We don’t have much time. I wasn’t going to talk to you about this till I had good news, but it’s too late for that now. You have to take over from me.’

‘Take over what?’ Mama whispered back.

‘Arrangements for getting out of the country. I’ve been looking into it and you must continue my work and get away from here.’

‘What? You want us to leave our city, our home? Without you?’

‘You must go,’ Papa insisted. ‘While they have me, it will buy you some time. But you need to work quickly.’

‘We’re not going anywhere without you,’ Mama said.

Papa looked fiercely at her, then at me. ‘You have to,’ he said. ‘I will come back for you, I promise. I will find you, wherever you are. But you can’t stay here. Listen. The paperwork is in my office. Find it and pick up from where I left off.’

‘What about Omama?’ I asked.

Papa almost smiled. ‘I have tried to persuade her, but she says she is too old. She is too stubborn. She will not leave, and I cannot persuade her. She has her friends and I hope they will look after each other. But Leo, while you’re still here you make sure to visit her as often as you can.’ His voice broke as he added, ‘And do not leave without saying goodbye to her and making sure she is all right. You hear me?’