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come here.’
    ‘If by some miracle we win this war, we shall not easily be forgiven for our indifference.’
    ‘We are doing our best,’ Liddell said coldly. ‘Relief measures are being discussed.’
    ‘So, that’s all? You simply want me to find out what Miss Browne’s Jew knows?’ Edward spoke scathingly but he was angry and ashamed – for his country and for himself. He would continue to live his comfortable life while men, women and children were thrown into concentration camps and murdered. It was intolerable. He had to do more but he felt so impotent.
    ‘Not quite. There’s someone else I want you to get to know. I want you to find a way of meeting a German called Heinrich Braken. He was until recently one of Hitler’s intimates but he seems to have disgraced himself and is now in London – at Claridge’s.’
    ‘Braken? I’ve never heard of him.’
    ‘He was a friend of Hitler’s back in the twenties and although he has never been given any political power, for a long time he was intimate with the great man.’ Liddell’s voice was acid. ‘You might say he was Hitler’s court jester. Then he was put in charge of the foreign press. He spent time in America and speaks perfect American. But now he has fallen out of favour. We don’t quite know why. He could be useful and it would certainly annoy Hitler if he were to come over to us.’
    ‘I see. How will I meet him?’
    ‘That’s up to you but he has friends in London – the Mitfords, Harold Nicolson, Randolph Churchill – that set. Oh, and that young American, Stuart Rose, knows him.’
    ‘And what exactly do you want from me that you can’t ask Rose to do?’
    ‘Rose is American, homosexual and a Communist. To be any one of those rules him out,’ Liddell reproved him. ‘Find out Braken’s intentions. Make him feel safer in London than he would be in Berlin. He could be very useful to us. He knows – if anyone does – what makes Hitler tick.’
    ‘What can I promise him?’
    ‘You can tell him we’ll look after him. Find out what he wants.’
    ‘How do I report to you?’
    ‘You don’t. I will make myself known to you when I want to.’
    ‘But in an emergency . . .?’
    ‘There won’t be an emergency but, if you have to, ring this number.’ Liddell scribbled on the back of an envelope and gave it to Edward. ‘Just say “Putzi” and then ring off without waiting for an answer. Someone will contact you.’
    ‘Putzi? Why Putzi?’
    ‘Didn’t I say? It’s Braken’s nickname. By the way, how’s your German?’
    ‘Not fluent yet.’
    ‘Putzi’s not.’
    ‘Not what?’
    ‘A little fellow – that’s what it means – Putzi. He’s built like a carthorse.’
    ‘Is there anything else I ought to know about him?’
    ‘We know for a fact that he slept with Joan Miller – but who hasn’t? You’ve met her?’
    ‘I’ve seen her but we’ve not yet been introduced.’ Edward was puzzled. ‘She was Putzi’s mistress in Vienna while she was married to Mandl?’
    ‘Yes, do I shock you?’ Liddell sounded amused. ‘But it was in Berlin, not Vienna.’
    ‘Does her husband know?’ Edward thought it might account for Mandl’s look of discontent.
    ‘Mandl permitted it, I think. I’m not sure why. Perhaps because he wanted to get close to the Führer.’
    Edward shook his head in mock concern. ‘What will it do for my reputation if I befriend Putzi? I don’t want to shock my friends. They think it’s bad enough . . . Well, be that as it may . . .’
    ‘No, you are right. It is important you do not act out of character. You mustn’t “like” Putzi too obviously. You’ve got to make him want to know you. Show him you despise him. He’s the most awful snob so it shouldn’t be difficult. Whatever you do, don’t act “furtive”. The mysterious manner engenders distrust. A frank, open approach gains confidence. You can joke and talk a great deal and still say nothing. Now you must get back to the party before you