Elsa led Peter and Bridget into the garden behind the Ansell house. In the dim light, they could see a woman sitting at a wooden table on the verandah, drinking tea and smoking a cigarette.
“Hanne, this is Peter. Peter, this is Hanne.”
“Hello Peter, Bridget.”
Bridget nodded at Hanne.
“Nice to meet you, Hanne,” Peter said. “We admire your courage.”
Peter pulled the duplicate key from his pocket and handed it to Hanne.
“You will need to test it in the lock to see if it works properly, but I think we got a good imprint.”
“I will do that,” Hanne said.
Elsa poured the tea for her guests. Peter took a cup and there was a moment of silence as they contemplated their individual roles in this new mission.
“From our pictures of the house, the best approach would be through the back garden,” Peter said.
“Yes, the back gate is never locked,” Hanne said.
“You do know that the house is under observation by the Gestapo?”
“The Gestapo!” Hanne and Elsa exclaimed, exchanging frightened glances.
“I noticed some men on the road,” Hanne added. “They were repairing a flat tyre.”
“No doubt, Gestapo men,” Peter concluded.
He had not been surprised when Bernie told him that the Gestapo was keeping a watch on Kramer’s house. With the declining fortunes of the Wehrmacht in Russia and in the Italian peninsula, every German citizen working in Stockholm was under surveillance. Peter had learned through Frau R that a young German radio employee had been held incommunicado for several days by the Gestapo after they discovered that a group of dissident Germans had been planning to demand asylum in Sweden.
Peter pulled a file from his briefcase and put it on the table. He opened the file to show several glossy, black and white photographs.
“Here’s the back of the house. How do you suggest we get the documents from the second floor down to the garden for the pickup?”
Hanne looked at the pictures.
“From the house, this side of the garden is not as visible, so I think it would be better to come in on this side.”
“Very good,” Peter said.
“Usually, I don’t get to the second-floor bedrooms until late morning. Dr Kramer leaves for his office around nine and returns by five or six o’clock.”
“What about Frau Kramer?” Bridget asked.
“She’s up in her bedroom until around ten. The nanny gets up early with young Heidi.”
“Dr Kramer has a gardener, I believe,” Peter said.
Hanne was surprised to see how well acquainted Peter was with the comings and goings at the Kramer house.
“Yes, but only one day a week.”
“So you could put the documents in a bag and simply toss them out the window,” Peter suggested.
“But what if the neighbours see her?” Bridget asked. “Tossing things out of windows would look very strange.”
“There is a risk,” Hanne remarked, “that the neighbours on this side see me throwing something out of the window.”
“Suppose you put the documents in a shoe bag, you know an ordinary cloth bag with a drawstring,” Peter said, “and simply carry them downstairs.”
“No, I don’t want to be seen carrying a shoe bag downstairs,” Hanne said. “Maybe tossing it out the window is the best plan.”
“We have another idea that might work,” Peter said. “A wire pulley system which could be attached to the window. You hook the cloth bag with the documents to the wire at the window and drop them down to the garden. The wire would be attached to the wall so it would not be very visible.”
Elsa and Hanne appeared to like this idea and nodded their approval.
“How would Hanne install the wire to the window?” Bridget asked.
“It’s very simple,” Peter said, “it consists of a thin wire with lead weights at the end. You twist the wire around a drainpipe or window support, then let the wire drop in a straight line to the garden. Our people will fix it to the wall below. After the documents are returned, you pull up the wire with the cloth bag attached.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Hanne said.
“I think we need something stronger to drink,” Elsa said as she left to fetch a bottle of aquavit and glasses.
“What do you think, Hanne?” Bridget asked.
“It’s good. The plan is good. The cloth bag and the wire should work well.”
Elsa arrived with the aquavit and poured a round for everyone. They sipped their drinks and looked at the pictures again.
“So after the documents are gone, I continue to do my housework. What time do I return to the second floor to collect the documents?” Hanne asked.
“We estimate that the transport and copy time will take up to two hours,“ Peter said. “You say that Dr Kramer receives packages two or three times a week?”
“Yes, I have seen them on his desk.”
“So if you put the bag on the wall drop at around eleven, we would get it back to you by one o’clock at the latest. We could try for next Tuesday.”
“You must be very careful, Hanne.” Bridget cautioned. “If for some reason, you must cancel, it doesn’t matter. You must not endanger yourself.”
Elsa smiled at her friend.
“Don’t worry, Bridget,” Elsa said. “Mata Hanne has nerves of steel.”
The women burst into laughter, but Peter could only manage a smile. You never knew how a relatively simple operation like this could turn out. Even with the best-laid plans, disaster could be waiting in the wings