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Simon had thought nothing would surprise him, after what he’d been put through in Riyadh, but he was wrong.

•••

When Khalil finally agreed to the inevitable, the Chief of Police took a prepared statement out of his briefcase and placed it on the desk in front of the witness.

Khalil read the damning words, and for a moment seemed to hesitate, until the Chief reminded him, ‘Ten years in ‘Ulaysha, or the chance to go home and be with your wife and family. Your choice, of course.’

The Chief picked up the pen on Khalil’s desk and handed it to him. After another moment of hesitation, Khalil signed on the dotted line.

The policeman waited for the ink to dry before he slipped the confession back into his briefcase and checked his watch. ‘Twenty-four hours,’ he reminded him before he and his deputy departed as quickly as they had come.

‘Where next?’ asked the Chief’s driver as the two police officers jumped into the back of their waiting car.

‘The Overseas Club,’ replied the Chief, ‘where we will still have to get statements from the barman and the security guard who were on duty that night, which shouldn’t prove too difficult, now we have a written confession from Khalil.’

‘And after that?’ asked his deputy.

‘We arrest Prince Ahmed bin Majid.’

•••

Hannah had been waiting in Arrivals for over an hour. When she saw her husband for the first time, she ran towards him, threw her arms around him – or what was left of him – and clung on, still finding it hard to believe he’d arrived home safely.

Simon placed an arm around her shoulders as she led him unsteadily towards the car park. So many questions she wanted to ask, and now a lifetime to ask them. She lowered him gently into the car and put on his seat belt before taking her place behind the wheel.

As they drove out onto the road, Simon watched as the rain stopped and the sun began to rise on a blissful English autumn morning. Simon had forgotten how he’d taken for granted the simple pleasures of life he feared he might never experience again: church spires gleaming in the sunlight, birds tweeting merrily on high, patrons of local pubs spilling out onto the pavement, clutching onto pints of warm beer, children playing football on the village green and a bobby on his bicycle doing the afternoon rounds.

When the Old Vicarage came into sight, Simon finally believed it wasn’t a dream. His eyes filled with tears when he saw his two sons standing on the doorstep waiting for him.

He jumped out of the car and began running towards them, but his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the ground. Robert ran to his side, scooped his father up and became his crutch as he helped him into the house.

Hannah closed the door on the past.

•••

The Speaker rose from her chair in the Commons and called for order, before inviting the Foreign Secretary to make a statement on behalf of the government.

Robin Cook took his place at the dispatch box, opened his red ministerial folder and said, ‘With your permission, Madam Speaker, I will make a statement concerning the negotiations the government has been conducting with Saudi Arabia for a long-term arms contract.’

The House fell silent.

‘I am delighted to announce,’ continued the Foreign Secretary, ‘that Sir Bernard Anscombe, our Ambassador in Riyadh, this morning signed a comprehensive agreement on behalf of Her Majesty’s government for a three-billion-pound arms contract with Saudi Arabia.’

Hear, hear! echoed from the government benches, but they were far from universal.

‘Full details of which will be available to members in the order office immediately following the conclusion of this statement.’

The House listened intently as the Foreign Secretary took them slowly through the details of the agreement, ending with the words, ‘This contract, Madam Speaker, will cement a long-term relationship with the Middle East, making possible the immediate employment of some three thousand support staff on the ground and a further twenty thousand in factories up and down the country.’

The hear, hears were a little louder this time.

The Foreign Secretary turned to the last page of his statement. ‘I know the whole House will want to congratulate Mr Simon Hartley, who has quite recently returned to this country, on the role he played in securing this historic contract.’ Mr Trevelyan had drawn a line through the wordsand not always in the easiest of circumstances.

Hear, hears emanated from around the house, having finally found something they could all agree on.

‘Madam Speaker, I commend this statement to the House.’

After the background noise had subsided, the Speaker rose again and called for the shadow frontbench spokesman to respond.