Page 76 of Be Less Panda

Hans must have noticed her looking around.

‘Is something bothering you?’

‘No, everything’s fine.’

Another text buzzed on Nancy’s phone. She glanced quickly at it.

Eyes on

Olivia had been reading too many thrillers. Nancy glanced around again. Still no sign of her. How could she possibly see them if Nancy couldn’t see her? Perhaps her eyesight was worse than she thought. Nancy made a mental note to book an optician’s appointment when she got home.

‘Life was a lot simpler without those,’ he said, nodding at her phone.

‘Yes. I’ll put it in my pocket so we’re not disturbed again. Let’s talk.’

‘I’m not sure where to start.’ He seemed on edge.

‘How about why you left without so much as a note?’ Nancy said, successfully keeping her voice calm.

‘That wasn’t my choice,’ he said. ‘But my story will sound extremely strange unless I tell you something else first.’

‘Go on then. Explain.’

‘Perhaps we could sit there?’ he said, indicating a bench facing the lake.

Nancy huffed. ‘I don’t care whether we sit or walk. I just want you to tell me what you need to. And then we can go back to our normal lives.’

He nodded. ‘I’m finding this difficult.’

‘I can see that.’

He sat down on the bench. Nancy reluctantly sat next to him. He held her hand. She liked the way it felt. She could be 20 again.If it wasn’t for all the wrinkles and liver spots,her inner voice helpfully pointed out.

‘I was a spy.’

Nancy laughed and pulled her hand away. Olivia had been right.

‘I’m not joking.’

‘I’m laughing because Olivia suggested you and Dieter were both spies, and I dismissed it out of hand. I thought it was fantastical, but clearly, I was wrong.’ So wrong. So much for thinking her judgement of people was always spot on.

‘Why did Olivia think that? We were so careful.’

‘We? So you were both spies?’

He looked uncomfortable.

Nancy filled the silence. ‘Ingrid accidentally dropped some papers on the pavement when she was leaving work with Olivia. Papers that she shouldn’t have been taking out of the building. Olivia put two and two together.’

Hans nodded. ‘Yes. Dieter was a spy also.’

Nancy slid away from him, disappointed. She wasn’t surprised, but she had hoped for a different explanation. She folded her arms and turned towards him so she could see his face properly. He didn’t look at her. ‘Who were you spying for?’

‘For our country. For East Germany. We needed to find out what the West Germans were doing, so Dieter was selected because he was the type of man who appealed to Ingrid.’

‘So it wasn’t a coincidence. He didn’t just make a pass at any German woman in Paris on the off chance they’d flash him a top secret document?’

‘No. We all had specific targets.’