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Sneum was sure he had heard Christmas Moeller speak favorably of Spink, and the Free Danish leader seemed to have assessed this particular Englishman’s personality correctly. Here, at last, was someone who listened. Although Sneum had told his story countless times already, he soon noticed a difference in his own delivery. With such a receptive audience, he was able to convey the pressures he had been under and the practical problems he had encountered far more calmly.

Spink knew Denmark intimately, having been an adviser to the British Legation in Copenhagen until the occupation: he spoke the language, knew the current conditions and understood the people. He wasn’t even shocked to hear that Sneum had socialized with Germans, knowing only too well that nothing could be achieved without some sort of contact with the enemy. Park also displayed a keen interest in Denmark, a country he would visit at the end of the war in a successful bid to recover missing SOE money. But his enquiries were more pointed than Spink’s, and he posed some tough questions on the controversial topic of Sneum’s behavior in Sweden. Tommy invited his latest jury to step into his shoes: at best he had felt neglected by the British and at worst double-crossed. In those desperate circumstances, he had chosen to protect himself from the threat of being returned to the Germans. Yes, he had played a dirty game in Malmo and had probably gone too far. Ultimately, however, he insisted he had betrayed no one. Moreover, his achievements had been considerable, given all the infighting which had marred his mission. He had left behind the foundations of an effective resistance network, one which didn’t rely upon the Princes of Danish Intelligence. He had also made the first inroads into areas of scientific intelligence which others seemed unable to grasp. As for the accusation that he was pro-German, Sneum explained that he simply saw Germans as human beings too. If this was a crime, he was guilty. Yes, he had been ruthless and headstrong in Copenhagen at times, but he had recruited good men to the Allied cause. Indeed, the men who remained operational in Copenhagen would provide the biggest testament to his loyalty at the end of the war.

Spink and Park listened carefully for three hours. They had been given reports from other men who featured in Sneum’s story, disgruntled characters who told a very different, damning tale. Presumably they would also have known all about the claim that there was a traitor operating within Danish circles in London. Could that traitor be Sneum? Or could Sneum be feeding this German spy information for use against those SOE agents who had stolen his thunder on the Danish stage? They put their questions to Sneum calmly. Sneum insisted he knew nothing about such a traitor.

But where did the truth lie? Spink and Park left Brixton to consider all they had been told in more comfortable surroundings. With minimum disagreement, they compiled a joint report for the attention of their respective SOE superiors. Unusually, their findings remained entirely free of political or departmental bias. On the basis of their objective understanding of what had happened to Thomas Sneum over the previous year, they offered a series of nononsense recommendations. If their SOE bosses were prepared to follow their suggestions, there would soon be liaison with SIS too, in order to determine Sneum’s fate.

Since their falling-out in June 1941 over the lack of space in the Hornet Moth, the war had taken Thomas Sneum and Christian Michael Rottboell on very different paths. However, their stories had also displayed a certain continuity. Sneum had been an agent for SIS in Denmark and had then found himself imprisoned in Sweden for his efforts. While he was adapting to life in a Malmo cell, Rottboell, the SOE agent, had landed in Denmark and taken over British interests there. Christian Michael had then organized the escape to England of Christmas Moeller, whose subsequent support for Sneum had undoubtedly helped him survive.

The hangman’s noose remained