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London, England
May 12
Bill finished tying his shoe and glanced at the large, four-poster bed where Marguerite still slept. His wife was getting used to him leaving before the sun was up, unfortunately. She really was a patient woman. For all the hours he was gone, you’d think he’d gone into politics. Yet she hadn’t said a word for weeks. He would try to make it up to her once this latest flap had passed. Maybe take her into the country for a few days.
He got up and picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. Going over to the bed, he leaned down to drop a kiss on her forehead. She stirred, then settled back into sleep and he turned away from the bed to move noiselessly across the room to the door. It was already almost five, and he wanted to be at the office in time for the first transmissions of the day from France. He had to leave.
He was just reaching the foot of the stairs when the telephone in the hallway rang shrilly. He scowled, glancing upwards and hoping the extension in the bedroom didn’t wake Marguerite. Moving swiftly to the hall stand, he picked up the receiver before it had a chance to ring again.
“Yes? Hello?”
“Mr. Buckley? This is Rex calling, from Ainsworth Manor,” a deep voice spoke. “I’m sorry to disturb you this early.”
“Not at all,” Bill said, rubbing his forehead. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, everything’s fine now. But I thought you should know that we had a visitor last night.”
Bill stilled, his hand falling from his head. “Tell me.”
“There isn’t much to tell. I was making my rounds shortly before midnight when I saw the door off the back terrace was open. Now it wasn’t like that when I went by earlier, so I went to investigate.”
“And?”
“The door was forced, all right. The lock came right away from the door jam, and took a chunk of wood with it. I went through to the house and began to do a thorough search.”
“Began?”
“Well, I didn’t need to finish. The dogs started barking out by the terrace, so I ran back to the drawing room and got there just in time to see the intruder disappearing into the trees.”
“The dogs were loose? How on earth did he get to the house without them giving the alarm?” Bill demanded.
“Oh, they weren’t loose to begin with, but they got out after I left the gamekeeper's cottage. I must have left the door off the latch. I checked them before I made my rounds, you see.” Rex cleared his throat. “After I saw the man going into the trees, I went back and did a thorough search of the ground floor. Nothing was touched or missing, sir. I don’t think he’d gotten very far when I happened on him.”
“Why did he go in through the drawing room?” Bill wondered. “There’s nothing in there, surely, where Robert would have hidden anything.”
“Perhaps he was coming back to search everywhere else,” Rex suggested. “You did say that Thomas thought only the Study and Library were disturbed the last time, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Bill shook his head and sighed. “They didn’t find it then, so perhaps they’re searching again, and trying to be more thorough about it this time.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you get any kind of look at him? Anything that will help track him down?”
“No, unfortunately not, sir. He’s a fairly tall man, and he was wearing a dark colored overcoat. Not much help, I’m afraid.”
“No.”
“There might be one thing, though,” he said after a second. “It’s still dark, so I can’t see properly, but when the sun rises, I’ll look around the terrace and the lawn to the trees. Perhaps he dropped something, or left a track or footprint of some sort.”
“Well, it’s a long shot, but let me know what you find,” Bill said, glancing at his watch. “Have you mentioned any of this to Mrs. Ainsworth?”
“Not yet, sir. I’ve only told Thomas.”
“Let’s keep it that way for the moment. No need to alarm Madeleine needlessly.”
“Yes, sir. Shall I come down to London to make my report?”
“No. You stay there, and I’ll send another man down to help you. If our intruder comes back, he’ll be more careful. Two of you can share the load and take shifts.”
“What will you tell Mrs. Ainsworth? She needed a gardener, but I don’t see that she needs anyone else at present.”
“I’ll take care of that. You just continue to keep an eye on everything. Is there anyone in particular you’d like to have with you there indefinitely?” he added humorously.
“Oh I don’t mind, sir,” Rex replied with a short laugh. “As long as they don’t mind dogs and crotchety old Aunties, I think anyone will do. Perhaps Walters would be a good fit. He’s good with horses, isn’t he?”
“That’s a splendid suggestion. I’ll get on the phone to him as soon as I get to Broadway. Thank you for calling.”
“I thought you’d want to know without delay, sir.”
“And you were right. I’ll send Walters down in the next few days. Hang on until then, will you?”
“Of course, sir.”
Bill hung up the receiver and stared blindly at his reflection in the mirror above the little table. So Henry was still looking for the treasure Robert had hidden before his fateful trip to Poland. For him to risk another trip out to Ainsworth, it must be getting dire that he locate it...whatever it was. It had been risky enough going out there once, but now he’d tried again.
What on earth had Robert found in those weeks before his death?
It was a question he’d asked himself countless times over the past six months, and he was no closer to an answer now than he had been at the start of this. Evelyn had solved the puzzle box, but it hadn’t got them any closer to finding what Robert had hidden. A clue, she’d said. That was what had been in the box. A clue. An address.
Bill turned away and went over to the closet to get his overcoat and hat. She hadn’t told him anything other than that the address was in Switzerland, and she wanted to go alone. He’d agreed, but he admitted now that it hadn’t been such a priority for him to arrange the trip. And then Hitler went and invaded Belgium while she was still there, and he completely forgot all about it.
He pulled on his coat and took his hat from the shelf above the row of outerwear. It had to be a priority now. She would have to go as soon as she returned from France. There could be no doubt that the spy in London was anxious to find the missing information, and they had to find it first.
Bill opened the front door and stepped out onto the top step of his London home, setting his hat on his head in the gray, predawn light. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out his gloves and began pulling them on, watching the milkman’s truck turn into the top of the street. Getting Evelyn into Switzerland would be tricky. The Germans were advancing rapidly, and the Luftwaffe was gaining control of the skies over Belgium. Soon they would also be over France. If Evelyn was going to fly into Switzerland safely, she would have to do it as soon as possible. He didn’t know how much longer the skies over France would be safe. And, once she was there, she would have to get back again.
He finished pulling on his gloves and started down the shallow steps. As he reached the pavement, a shiny black Vauxhall pulled up to the curb. The driver jumped out and ran around to open the back door for him, nodding with a small smile.
“Good morning, sir,” he said cheerfully.
“Good morning, Jones,” Bill replied, nodding in greeting. “Right on time. Thank you very much.”
“Of course, sir.”
Bill settled into the back of the car and the driver closed the door, moving back around to get behind the wheel. Directing his attention out the window, Bill sat back against the leather seat and exhaled silently. Yes. He would have to get Evelyn in and out of Switzerland without delay. Thankfully she was on her way to Paris now. Once she reached the city and contacted him, he’d arrange for a flight from Paris to London. They didn’t have time for her to mess around with a water crossing from Calais.
If the Germans continued at the pace they were going, they didn’t have time for much of anything at all.
––––––––
Evelyn finished securing the straps on her suitcase and looked around the small attic room. Her purse lay on the bed next to the case, and there was nothing left to do but carry her suitcase downstairs and leave.
She would miss Josephine, she realized with a shock. She didn’t know the woman well, but somehow they had become like sisters in the short time they’d spent together. They had always got along well, but now Evelyn felt as if there was an invisible bond between them. They were on a par with each other now, fighting the same fight, and somehow that made Josephine like the sister that she’d never had.
Evelyn smiled at her sentimentality and picked up the suitcase, pulling it off the bed. She grabbed her purse with her other hand and turned to leave the room. It had been sheer luck that they’d parked on the field adjoining the farmhouse, but she was glad they had. She was glad to have spent this short time with Josephine, Marc and Luc. If nothing else, the three of them had shown her clearly that dedication and loyalty crossed the line of family and status. They had become family out of necessity, but their loyalty to each other was unquestionable. It showed Evelyn what would be needed in the long months ahead. There was no way to fight this war alone, and she was no exception.
As she went down the stairs to the ground floor, Evelyn felt a pang of envy. Josephine was settled in once place, working with the same people, building a network based on trust and loyalty. She, on the other hand, had been to three different countries in two months, not including England, and had met and worked with different people each time. Somehow she thought she’d rather have Josephine’s arrangement. Almost as soon as she thought it, though, Evelyn found herself shaking her head. No. She wouldn’t trade traveling for all the farmhouses in France. She loved it, and loved meeting different people in different cultures and societies. And she was good at it, she was discovering. She seemed to be able to make contacts and gain trust fairly easily, and none of them had any inkling that she wasn’t exactly who or what she pretended to be. That was why Bill had recruited her, for her ability to travel within Europe, speaking the languages and blending with the populace until no one would ever dream that she was, in fact, an English spy.
That was her strength, and where she could help the most in this war. While she still envied Josephine’s easy friendship with her team, Evelyn recognized that she was happiest doing what she was doing, even if it was tiring to be constantly on the move.
“I’ll take that the rest of the way,” Luc said, appearing from around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. “Go into the kitchen. Josephine made coffee and Marc has gone for fresh pastries.”
“Fresh pastries!” she exclaimed. “I feel like royalty!”
Luc laughed, taking her suitcase from her hand. “He had to go into Maubeuge early to meet with someone, so he said he’d get a few things. Bread and pastries, and some cheese and wine for you to take with you.”
“Oh that’s not necessary,” she protested. “You’ve already done enough for us!”
“He insisted. Marc likes people to think that he’s rough, but he’s not. His heart is as big as he is.”
Luc waved and went out the front door with her suitcase. Evelyn smiled and turned to go down the corridor to the kitchen, the smell of coffee greeting her as she went.
“Luc just took my suitcase and went out the door,” she said, entering the large and sunny kitchen. “I hope he’s not going to carry it all the way out to the car.”
“I brought it around to the house,” Jens said from the table. “So he’s only taking it a few feet.”
“Oh good!” Evelyn smiled at Josephine and went over to the coffee pot on the stove. “He said Marc went into Maubeuge.”
“Yes. He had to meet someone very early, so he’s bringing back some food for you to take with you.”
“That’s really not necessary, but I’m sure we’ll be glad of it later today,” Evelyn said, filling a cup.
“I’ve been looking at the map and Marle isn’t very far at all,” Jens said.
“No. It won’t take you much more than an hour to get there,” Josephine told them. “You should be on your way to Paris before evening.”
Jens smiled at Evelyn. “See that? You might be home by nightfall.”
“And you will have your first look at Paris,” she replied. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
“It is life right now,” he said with a shrug. “At least I am here.”
Josephine got up from the table. “I’d almost forgotten. I have that letter of introduction for you. Luc and I both signed it. I’ll go get it from the other room.”
Evelyn nodded and carried her coffee over to the table, sitting down and sipping it.
“It’s very good of her to write that letter,” Jens said. “I still feel like a fool when I think about the information I sent on to Asp.”
“Then I wouldn’t think about it,” she said with a quick smile. “You’ll take what you have now to this Marcel, and we’ll be on our way. You’ll never have to think about the retched Asp again.”
Jens nodded and fell silent for a moment, then he looked at her with an unreadable look on his face.
“What will you do if the Nazis break through and go to Paris?” he asked.
“I suppose I’ll go south to my family.”
“I don’t know what I shall do,” he said slowly. “I don’t know anyone in France, and I don’t know where to go.”
Evelyn looked across the table at him and felt a wave of sorrow go over her. He had committed treason against his government by stealing secret information to pass on to the French in the hopes that it would help them. He had risked everything to do what he could for a cause that was not his own, but that he believed in. Now he was in a strange country with no friends, no family and no idea what to do next. It was a position no one should have to be in, and yet there were hundreds of Belgians just like him, all looking for an escape from the threat of the Third Reich. She didn’t even know if he had any money with him. Aside from her, he was completely alone in the midst of a war that was getting increasingly closer by the hour. She couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying.
“We’ll think of something,” she said, reaching out and squeezing his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t abandon you in Paris to your fate.”
“Here it is,” Josephine sung out, coming back into the kitchen flourishing an envelope. “All signed, sealed and ready to be delivered.”
“I really appreciate this. Thank you,” Jens said, taking the envelope.
“It’s quite all right. You give that to Marcel and he’ll take care of everything else.”
The sound of a door slamming and voices in the house made them all look towards the hall. Footsteps came down the corridor quickly and then Marc entered with a bag in his arms, Luc close behind.
“It’s as I feared,” Marc announced, carrying the bag over to the counter. “The German troops have broken through the Ardennes.”
“Completely?” Evelyn asked, staring at him.
“Completely. They’re at Sedan, or they will be by late afternoon.” He turned to face them, his face grim. “The unthinkable has happened.”
“Well, they still have to cross the Meuse,” Josephine said after a second of stunned silence. “Our army will stop them from doing that.”
Luc snorted. “What army? They’re all in Belgium!”
“But we must have divisions at Sedan,” she said, looking from Luc to Marc.
“The only division we have is inexperienced, and is positioned behind Sedan. They won’t be very effective, if at all,” Marc said. “I think we need to prepare for the fact that the Germans will be in France in the next day or so. And once they’re in, there’s absolutely no defense between Sedan and Paris. They will be in Paris in a matter of days.”
His words fell heavily over the group and Evelyn swallowed, her heart sinking. It was happening, then. Despite all their warnings, and all the intelligence they’d gathered, Hitler was still moving into France at lightning speed. Blitzkrieg.
Josephine looked at her, her face white. “If you’re going to get to Paris while it’s still safe, you need to leave,” she finally said, her voice strained. “You still have to stop in Marle on the way.”
“Surely you don’t think they will go right through Sedan that quickly?” Jens asked. “It will take time to cross the Meuse!”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Luc muttered. “They made it through the Ardennes forest in three days. I don’t think a little water will stop them now. Our army certainly won’t.”
Evelyn was startled at the note of bitterness in his voice and she glanced at Marc to find the same look of disillusionment on his face. They were disgusted with their army, and there was no reason to be yet. The Germans hadn’t breached Sedan, or the Meuse, or crossed into French territory. Yet they were behaving as if the SS was already in Paris.
“Come on, Jens,” she said, gulping down the rest of her coffee and pushing her chair back. “Josephine’s right. We need to be on our way while we still can.”
“I put a bag of supplies into the backseat of your car,” Marc told Jens as he stood up with Evelyn. “There is food and water, and a bottle of wine. It will be more than enough to get you to Paris.”
“Thank you so much,” Evelyn said, smiling at him warmly. “You really shouldn’t have, but we’re very grateful.”
Marc looked uncomfortable and shrugged, looking away.
“Josephine told me what Jens is trying to do. We look after our own,” he said brusquely. “Just take care of yourselves.”
“We will.”
Josephine got up and hugged Evelyn. “Don’t stop. Just get to Marle, see Marcel, and then go straight to Paris.”
“Of course.” Evelyn pulled away and looked at her friend. “What will you do?”
“We will stay here until we can no longer do so,” she said with a shrug. “If Sedan falls, we will go to Marc’s uncle, and continue. The fight must be fought, and we will continue to do it. You understand, I know.”
Evelyn nodded and reached out to squeeze Josephine’s hand.
“Until next time, my friend,” she said with a smile before releasing her hand and turning to pick up her purse from the table.
“God speed to you,” Marc said, holding out his hand. “I hope to see you again in better days.”
Evelyn smiled and grasped his hand. “Then you shall.”
Jens said his goodbyes and a moment later they were crossing the small garden at the back to go around the corner of the house to the car.
“They are extraordinary people,” he said in awe. “I’ve never known any more doggedly determined people in all my life.”
Evelyn looked back at the farmhouse as they reached the car. The sun was getting higher in the sky as the morning wore on, bathing the house in a yellow glow. She smiled sadly and then looked at Jens.
“There is nothing so extraordinary about them,” she said. “They are fighting for their country and their freedom. Thousands of others are doing the same, yourself included.”
“I betrayed my country to help yours, and now my country is overrun,” he said, opening the door so that she could get into the passenger seat. “I’m not fighting for anything.”
“Oh but you are, Jens. You gathered information to help the fight against tyranny. You’re not wielding a gun, but never doubt that you’re fighting for freedom just the same.” Evelyn got into the car and looked up at him. “Whether you planned it or not, you just joined the ranks of Josephine and Marc. You’re one of them now. Never forget it.”
Marle, France
Eisenjager stood across the street from the house in Marle, watching it dispassionately. He’d arrived in the small town late in the afternoon the day before to find it boasted only one café. There was no question of trying to gather useful information from the people there, as was his custom. In towns of this size, there was no point. They wouldn’t talk to strangers, especially ones who were foreign, even if he did pass for Swiss. The best he could do was to was listen. Thankfully, he was very good at that. By the time he’d finished breakfast this morning, he not only knew where Asp lived, but also knew that most of the town distrusted him. Pierre Lucien. That was his real name. He used to be a factory worker outside of Paris, though now they weren’t sure what he did. He traveled a lot, and when he was home, he kept himself to himself. He was likeable enough, they agreed, but his reticence was met with suspicion. There was no reason for a man to be that secretive about what he did every day. None at all.
Eisenjager sucked on his cigarette, never taking his eyes from the house across the road. It was a very strange situation he found himself in, nothing like what he was used to. He had to go see this Asp, but had no inkling of why Hamburg thought the man would be able to help him find Jens Bernard. He didn’t like not knowing who people were, or why they would be able to help him. He preferred to know exactly what he was dealing with. Less mistakes were made that way, and there were less opportunities for failure. This Asp was an unknown factor, and Eisenjager didn’t like unknown factors.
He was still delaying the walk across the street five minutes later when the front door to the house opened and a tall man stepped out, turning to shake the hand of someone who Eisenjager could only assume was Asp. After shaking his hand, the door closed and the tall man turned to walk down the path to the street. Eisenjager’s eyes narrowed sharply and he sucked in his breath. He knew that man! Or at least, he knew of him. Everyone in the SS knew of Obersturmbannführer Hans Voss. The man had created quite a reputation for himself over the course of two years. When Eisenjager had gone over to the Abwehr, Voss had been climbing the ranks of the SD with speed and tenacity. He was determined to break into the ranks of the Senior command, and Eisenjager had no doubt that he would accomplish it. Men like that always did. They wanted prestige and power more than anything, and they usually got it.
What the hell was he doing here?
Eisenjager scowled and watched as Voss turned and walked down the street away from him. What business did the SD have with Asp? And what did that mean for his own dealings with the man?
There was only one thing he could do, and it would have to be done before he went to see Asp. He would have to contact Hamburg again and advise them of this new development. They would have to instruct him on his course of action. If he had his own way, he would neutralize Voss and go about his business, but the presence of the SD here meant that Asp was something altogether different than what he’d first supposed, and he had to know exactly what before proceeding.
Eisenjager turned and disappeared down the alley between two buildings, making his way back to his car and his wireless radio. Asp would have to wait.
