The family now truly believed that it might be feasible to keep Daniel’s case out of the public eye, even though they had told some people. Anita therefore reached out to the athletics BGI Academy and other organizations that would help to spread the word. But as the circle grew, several challenges presented themselves. It turned out that private institutions, associations and schools were not allowed to give money for a ransom, so BGI suggested making copies of Daniel’s photographs of young gymnasts from his trip to Russia, which associations and schools could then buy. In this way, Daniel’s alma mater Vesterlund School and others could contribute indirectly.

The collection was extended to principals, gymnasts, directors, management committees, bridge clubs, Rotary clubs, grandparents, friends and colleagues. During the first twenty-four hours they collected 145,000 kroner (about £15,000) and after two days the amount had reached half a million (£52,000).

Anita got a buzz when receiving updates from the lawyer about how much had been raised, although there was still a long way to go. The family was counting on taking 5 to 6 million kroner (about £521,000 to £ 625,000) to buy Daniel’s freedom.

Arthur didn’t know what to expect from the negotiations. ISIS could be an organization that wasn’t willing to negotiate. He had been involved in more than twenty cases as a security consultant around the world and he had never witnessed a hostage case as spectacular as the one that Daniel and the other hostages were involved in.

The Danish government hadn’t either. The Foreign Policy Committee discussed it behind closed doors on several occasions. Most are, but because Denmark had published the Muhammad cartoons, there was a far more immediate risk that the kidnappers would use a hostage to put pressure on the Danish government. It was therefore important for the government and parliament to keep the Daniel affair completely at arm’s length in terms of negotiations, ransom and everything else.

Kjeld also experienced the extent to which parliament – across parties and behind closed doors – had decided to distance itself from the Daniel affair. In desperation over the growing expenses, Kjeld sent an appeal to, among others, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the leader of the Danish People’s Party and a prominent MP, who lived in the village of Thyregod, less than six miles away.

‘This is a cry for help,’ began Kjeld’s email. ‘Can it be true that we aren’t entitled to any financial support or assistance? I know only too well that the Danish government will never negotiate with kidnappers, but what about support to pay for the people that are working for us?’

The party leader replied succinctly that he couldn’t do anything to help.

So it was the family’s good fortune to have a daughter like Anita, who had professional experience in fundraising. It was not least thanks to her that, on 14 March 2014, the family could send a new offer to the kidnappers of $512,000 (£350,700), equivalent to more than 3 million kroner.

A week passed with no response from ISIS. On 22 March Susanne and Kjeld re-sent the email with the offer of $512,000 in the hope of getting a reply.

With help from large and small donations, they had now collected a total of about 5 million kroner, and there were several initiatives under way. Among other things, an Easter gala was going to be held in April, organized by several of Daniel’s old gymnastics acquaintances and the editor of The Gymnast magazine. Daniel’s former teammates and many of the country’s most talented gymnasts had agreed to come and perform. All of the profits from the event would be donated to the fund. A text message service was also set up, so that people could easily and quickly contribute 150 kroner (about £15).

At the same time, the family had finally received the letter and the video of Daniel that the Spanish hostage Marc Marginedas had brought with him out of captivity.

In the video, Susanne and Kjeld saw their son sitting shirtless against a white wall. His chest was covered in red marks and he had lost so much weight that his collar bone was sticking out. Maybe it was the way the video had been recorded, but it made him look as if he had shrunk.

Nevertheless, both the letter and the video offered a welcome reassurance that he was alive and that they just had to be persistent with the fundraising, so that he could come home as soon as possible.

The kidnappers were silent. They still hadn’t replied by 7 April, so the family decided to send a new email; this time with an increased offer. For the first time, and at Arthur’s request, they dared to name the amount in euros and offered to buy Daniel’s freedom for €845,000 (£654,100) or just over 6 million kroner.

The reason the kidnappers hadn’t replied was probably because they were busy finishing deals on some of the other hostages. Two more Spaniards, the journalist Javier Espinosa and the photographer Ricardo Vilanova, had been released from ISIS captivity towards the end of March.

· * ·

When Javier and Ricardo were about to be released and to leave the cell, the Beatles did the same thing they had done with Marc’s release. The Spaniards were made to believe that their fellow prisoners were going to be moved.

A truck backed up to the door at the end of the corridor outside the cell. The hostages were divided by nationality and Daniel climbed into the truck first, along with Dan and the Belgian, blindfolded and handcuffed. Then came the French, the Spaniards, the Americans and the British.

Although they knew that the Spaniards had been given proof-of-life questions a couple of days earlier, there was nevertheless a quivering uncertainty over what the Beatles might do next. After ten minutes, the truck stopped. Daniel could hear that a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a diesel engine was idling next to the truck and the British prisoners were asked to jump out.

‘Say goodbye to your friends!’ shouted the Beatles.

Daniel’s heart was pounding in his chest when the rear door slammed shut again and the truck continued on its way. He counted himself lucky to be at the very back of the cargo hold with Dan and the Belgian, who appeared to be valuable to the kidnappers. There was a difference between being a Danish prisoner from the little village of Hedegård and a Danish prisoner sent out by a major French organization.

When the truck stopped again, the Americans were separated from the rest and at the third stop the Spaniards disappeared.

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when the truck drove back to the Quarry, where the British and the Americans were already waiting for him and the other hostages. The Spaniards were on their way to the border to be released.

It became harder for the hostages to discuss negotiations and ransoms, because there was still nothing happening for the British and the Americans. On the contrary, James got increasingly hard treatment.

‘Do you like being in the army, James … just like your brother?’ asked a Beatle one day.

Daniel sat facing the wall and could hear that they had put James in a stranglehold and he was struggling to breathe. Afterwards, there was a thump on the floor as James fainted and knocked his head against the concrete. When he came to, he had a big black eye. But this time they had crossed a line. Other guards, whom the hostages had never seen before, came into the cell and asked with concern about James’s head. As the hostages didn’t dare to speak ill of the Beatles, they lied and said that James had fallen over. The guards took photographs and disappeared. When the Beatles returned, they laughed at James’s black eye, but Daniel had a sense that they also came to check whether they had gone too far.

They asked James, ‘What did you say to the other guards?’

‘That I had fallen over,’ he replied.