‘This outfit is preposterous,’ he said, zipping his tracksuit top. ‘What is the point of a hood that is not waterproof? And all these logos? I feel like a walking advertisement. And these jeans do not fit properly. They are sagging down to my knees.’

Butler smiled, glancing in the rear-view mirror. ‘I think you look fine. Juliet would say that you were bad.’

Juliet, Butler’s younger sister, was currently on a tour of the States with a Mexican wrestling troupe, trying to break into the big time. Her ring name was ‘The Jade Princess’.

‘I certainly feel bad,’ admitted Artemis. ‘As for these high-top trainers. How is one supposed to run quickly with soles ten centimetres thick? I feel as though I am on stilts.

Honestly, Butler, the second we return to the hotel, I am disposing of this outfit. I miss my suits.’

Butler pulled on to Im Tal, where the International Bank was located.

‘Artemis, if you’re not feeling comfortable, perhaps we should postpone this operation?’

Artemis zipped the computer game into a backpack, which already contained a number of typical teenage items.

‘Absolutely not. This window of opportunity has taken a month to organize.’

Three weeks previously, Artemis had made an anonymous donation to the St Bartleby’s School for Young Gentlemen, on condition that the Third Year boys were taken on a trip to Munich for the European Schools’ Fair. The principal had been happy to honour the donor’s wishes. And now, while the other boys were viewing various technological marvels at an exhibition in Munich’s Olympia Stadion, Artemis was on his way to the International Bank. As far as Guiney, the school’s principal, was concerned, Butler was driving a poorly student back to his hotel room.