When he finished recounting his story, there was no doubt. Jejoen told Arthur where James had gone to school and that he had been a teacher. He also gave information about John Cantlie that no one knew publicly, and John hadn’t even been in the press. At that point in time the Brit’s capture was still unknown to the public.

Arthur wrote everything on his forearm with his mini pen as unobtrusively as possible, while his cheeks burned. This is the breakthrough! a voice said inside him. After searching for about a year, he finally had the first proof of life of James Foley. He was still alive.

The next breakthrough came a few minutes later when Arthur read out the list of prominent ISIS leaders that he had written on his palm. Jejoen nodded and described all of them in detail. Arthur suddenly understood the connection: James and Daniel had been taken prisoner by the same people.

With the knowledge that Arthur had about the other western hostages, it became clear to him that the same key characters among the kidnappers were popping up every time. Perhaps all of the hostages were being held at the same location.

As soon as Arthur came out of the maximum security prison he called the United States and Britain. As euphoric as he was to finally know where James had been staying, he was equally depressed at the thought that Daniel was sitting in the hands of the same Islamists who had made James disappear for a year without any sign of life.

It was no longer just one Dane who was imprisoned or one American. It was a multinational hostage-taking, since there was much to indicate that some Frenchmen, a Brit and a German were also hostages in the same place. Arthur knew from experience that when a case involved many nationalities, it would mean every government fighting against the other. But that wasn’t the worst part.

When the kidnappers had several hostages in their custody, the risk increased that one of them would be killed. Not all of the captives would have the same value, and the captors were usually willing to sacrifice some more than others. Daniel might not be at the top of the list of those they wanted to keep.

Given these circumstances, Arthur realized that the appeal letter Daniel’s parents had sent to Emir Abu Athir had been completely irrelevant. Now it was simply a matter of how long it would take before someone tried to get in touch with Susanne and Kjeld and what ISIS’s grand plan was for Daniel, James and the others. Was it about money, politics, ideology or a combination of them all?

As Arthur saw it, Daniel and the other foreign hostages had become pawns in a dangerous political game in which the Islamists moved the pieces as and when it suited them. It was a game that could end up putting governments under pressure and presenting them with a dilemma: if they wanted their countrymen to be freed, they would be forced to indulge ISIS and pay ransoms to terrorists.

Arthur left Belgium with the feeling that anything could happen.

· * ·

The family in Hedegård was living in the iron grip of uncertainty. It had been many weeks since they had received any sign of life and even longer since anyone had shown any interest in negotiating Daniel’s release. Susanne was desperate to talk to her son, to see him and hear his voice as she remembered it. She and Kjeld went to the cinema more often than they had ever done; it was a place where they could forget reality for a while and where there was no one who asked about Daniel.

They wrote another letter, which Arthur’s contacts would try to get delivered to Daniel. Susanne spent a whole morning writing it, crying and crossing out. The letter was to give her son information about what was happening. It was meant to inspire hope – and show that they loved him, in case they never saw him again:

Dear Daniel,

We, Signe and the rest of your family are thinking about you very much. How are you? Are they treating you well? We have seen pictures and videos of you; it was hard, but nice too. We hope and believe that you can use your always positive outlook and attitude in the difficult situation you’re in, and your kind, friendly personality and maybe your gymnastics to benefit your body and soul.

Susanne and Kjeld wrote about how they were keeping his disappearance a secret, so that the press didn’t get wind of the story:

We are doing everything in our power to get you safely home to Denmark, so just keep going and fight on. You should know that we are all ready to receive you with love; we will help and support you, and together we will no doubt move forwards, together we are strong.

Here in Denmark, it’s the same old stuff. Christina has started her third year at high school. Signe is in school. Anita and her boyfriend both have new jobs, which are fortunately going really well. Dad is driving his truck and cycling a lot, and I’m working at Legoland, of course. Granddad and Grandma are worried, of course, like the rest of us, but they are holding out well.

We have had a fantastic, fine summer here in Denmark with a lot of sunshine and warm weather. We had three good days on Samsø, along with Anita and her boyfriend, who kayaked over and stayed at a campsite. Dad and I stayed in a boarding school, so now we have also tried that. We had our bikes with us, so we cycled all over Samsø. Christina went to Move Yourself in Viborg and has also worked at Legoland. Signe is a wonderful girl – she has been on holiday with her parents and her brothers and sisters. She misses you very much, but she is contributing enormously and fighting alongside us.

The harvest is now in and autumn is approaching; the leaves are falling from the trees and the dark time of year is approaching, the time with candles and cosiness. So we hope with all our hearts that you will come home soon and be able to enjoy yourself with us.

They ended the letter with a saying:

A tree with strong roots can withstand even the fiercest storm.

Many hugs and warm thoughts to you from your Mum and Dad.

· * ·

After months with no proof of life or any signs of negotiations, Daniel was finally collected from the cell and taken up to an office that had windows all around, like a glass cage.

He cast a quick glance out of the windows and managed to get a sense of where he was – some old cars were parked in a yard, where there was also some building clutter and two dumbbells – before an English-speaking guard ordered him to sit down on a chair. The guard said some phrases that Daniel had to repeat in front of a video camera:

‘My name is Daniel. I am a Danish citizen. I got caught by this group, because I had some pictures on my camera showing the houses of the mujahideen. This is a message to the prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Stop the support for groups like Liwa al-Tawheed and pay money in order for me to return home,’ he said, referring to one of the larger, moderate rebel groups.

He was then taken back to the cell, without having the slightest idea whether or not any of the video appeals he had made were ever sent to Denmark.

James was holding a candle out towards the door. The electricity kept disappearing for increasingly longer periods in the evening. When it happened, the hostages called the guards, who lit the wick of the candle they had finally been given.

All thirteen of them were sitting covered by their blankets, staring into the flame, as they looked forward to a small meal – a little bread and olives. No one said anything. Daniel looked at the others’ faces in the yellow gleam of the candlelight and for a moment he felt that it was actually quite cosy, especially when James distributed the food in equal portions.

The basement had become cold and damp. December was on its way. Daniel suggested a game he knew from when he taught at Bjerre Gymnastics and Sports School. During the Christmas month, the head of the boarding school had arranged a Secret Santa exchange that Daniel thought would work in the cell too. The rules were that everyone was secretly allocated someone who would be their Secret Santa and who would pamper them until Christmas. Then, on Christmas Eve, they all had to guess who was their Secret Santa.