Harry told a story of rescuing a stranger from some dogs and meeting his sister. The best lies are closest to the truth. Sandy smiled and nodded but that chilling look on his face as he returned to the car stayed in Harry’s mind. He had been phoning Otero, he must have been. He realized that he had been wrong about Sandy, wrong to think he didn’t really know about the terrible things that could happen, like Dunkirk. He knew about them and he could do terrible things himself. It was like at school, he didn’t care.

IT HAD BEEN ARRANGED that when Harry returned from the mine he would go straight to the embassy for a debriefing. He asked Sandy to drop him at his flat, saying he had a document to translate. As soon as the car disappeared round the corner he left again, catching a tram to Calle Fernando el Santo.

Tolhurst was in his office, reading a four-day-old Times. There was a power cut, and he was wearing a chunky pullover with a garish design against the cold. It made him look younger, like a plump schoolboy. He waved Harry in.

‘How’d it go?’ he asked eagerly.

‘There’s a mine all right.’ Harry sat down. He took a long deep breath. ‘But something’s gone wrong.’

Tolhurst’s round face seemed to narrow. ‘What? He’s not on to you?’

‘No. He took me round the mine. It’s out beyond Segovia; covers a big area, though production seems to be at an early stage. Otero was there, very friendly this time.’

‘And?’

‘As we were leaving, the watchman came out to open the gate and I recognized him. It was a man called Gomez. He works for Maestre; remember, we met him at the party?’

‘Yes, his old batman, or something.’

‘I didn’t think, I said hello. He acknowledged me but I could see he was terrified.’

‘Hell. How did Forsyth respond?’

‘He was on to it straight away, asked me where I’d met Gomez.’

‘Did you tell him?’

‘Yes. I’m sorry, Simon, I – I was on the spot, I couldn’t think of a lie. I said he’d worked for Maestre, I said perhaps he’d been sacked. It was all I could think of.’

‘Damn.’ Tolhurst picked up a pencil, and turned it over and over in his hands. Harry felt furious with himself, horrified by the thought of what the consequences of his slip might be for Gomez. ‘I could see Sandy was worried. He stopped in a village, said he had to make a phone call. He looked grim when he came out. I think he was ringing Otero. Simon, how is Maestre mixed up in all this?’

Tolhurst bit his lip. ‘I don’t know, but he’s mixed up in most of the Monarchist-Falange battles. We knew he was on the committee dealing with the gold mine but the captain hasn’t been able to get anything out of him. He’s close-mouthed where what he sees as Spain’s national interests are concerned.’

So the Knights of St George will only take you so far, Harry thought.

‘You shouldn’t have blurted out hello to someone you knew worked for him,’ Tolhurst said sharply. ‘You should have guessed he might be undercover.’

‘I haven’t had to think fast on my feet like that before. I’m sorry. I was concentrating so much on the site, trying to seem like a bona fide investor.’

Tolhurst put the pencil down. ‘Forsyth will realize Maestre wouldn’t just sack an ex-batman he allowed to be a chaperone for his daughter. Christ, Harry, this is a balls-up.’ He put both hands on the table and lifted himself up reluctantly. ‘I’m going to have to tell the captain. He’s with Sir Sam, there’s a diplomatic bag going tonight. You wait here.’

He left, leaving Harry staring miserably out of the window. A pedlar rode a little donkey down the street, his feet almost touching the ground on either side. Heavy bundles of wood were strapped to its back. Harry wondered at the load the small beasts were made to carry; you would think its spine would break.

Rapid footsteps sounded outside. Harry stood up as Tolhurst held the door open for Hillgarth to enter, his face grim. He was followed by the ambassador. Hoare’s thin face was red with anger. He threw himself into Tolhurst’s chair, glowering.

‘You bloody fool, Brett,’ Hillgarth began. ‘What possessed you?’

‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know that Maestre—’

Hoare addressed Hillgarth in tones that cut like a knife. ‘Alan, I warned you this operation was risky. I’ve always said, no covert operations, we should be gathering intelligence, nothing else. We’re not the bloody SOE. But oh no, you and Winston had to have your adventures! Now we could have compromised relations with the whole Monarchist faction thanks to this idiot.’ He waved at Harry as though flicking away a troublesome insect.

‘Come on, Sam, Maestre should have told us if he was running his own show.’

‘Why should he? Why? It’s his bloody country. Why shouldn’t he put a spy into a Falange-controlled project?’ Hoare put a hand, shaking with fury, to his brow. ‘Maestre’s one of our best sources. I’ve sweated blood this last five months to convince the Monarchists we have common interests, England’s not a threat to them. I’ve tried to persuade Winston to make friendly noises about Gibraltar and expel Negrín’s rabble. You know what else I’ve done too. And now they’ll find out we’re running a covert operation, one that clashes with one of theirs, despite all my promises of support.’

‘If something happens to this Gomez,’ Hillgarth said, ‘there’s no connection to us.’

‘Don’t be a fool! If Maestre’s had a man on site he’ll have been nosing about their papers. That’s the first thing he’d do. And what if there’s a note about a potential investor in this project called H. Brett Esquire, translator in His Majesty’s Diplomatic Service.’ Hoare’s thin face sagged, he looked exhausted. ‘I suppose I’d better ring Maestre and warn him, try to limit the damage.’

‘I’m sorry, sir,’ Harry ventured. ‘If I’d known—’

Hoare glared at Harry, his top lip curling over little white teeth. ‘If you’d known? It’s not your bloody business to know, it’s your job to stay sharp and field the balls.’ He turned back to Hillgarth. ‘You’d better abort the project. Send this bloody fool home, he can go and fight the Italians in North Africa. I said if we had to do this we’d have been better to approach Forsyth directly and try to buy him, without all this cloak and dagger stuff.’

Hillgarth spoke quietly, though his voice had an undertone of suppressed anger. ‘Ambassador, we agreed that course was too risky unless we knew what the project was worth to him. We know that now, we know how important it is. And Brett’s cover isn’t blown; if he told Forsyth he knew Maestre’s man that could even strengthen his credibility.’

‘I must phone Maestre. We’ll talk later.’ Hoare rose. Tolhurst ran to open the door for him. The ambassador glared at him as he passed through. ‘You should have known better, Tolhurst. Hillgarth, I want you with me for this call.’

Tolhurst closed the door slowly behind them. ‘You’d better go home, Harry. They’ll be arguing about this all evening.’

‘I’m supposed to be going to the theatre tonight. Macbeth. Will that be all right?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Tolly, what did Hoare mean there, you should have known better?’

Tolhurst smiled wryly. ‘I’m your watcher, Harry. I keep a close eye on how you’re doing, report to Captain Hillgarth. Every inexperienced spy has a watcher and I’m yours.’

‘Oh.’ Harry had wondered, but the realization still gave him a sinking, disappointed feeling.

‘I’ve always said you were doing well; Hillgarth’s been a bit impatient but I’ve told him you were playing Forsyth carefully. You’ve done very well, up to now. But you can’t afford any mistakes, not in this job.’

‘Oh.’

‘I didn’t think you’d drop a bollock like this. That’s the trouble, if you like a fellow, it biases you in his favour.’ Tolhurst gave Harry a resentful look. ‘You’d better go. Stay out of Hillgarth’s sight. I’ll ring you when we need you.’