CHAPTER 14
“C told you I was coming?” Somehow, I felt I should have been more astonished, but having worked with the chief for four years, I couldn’t say that I was.
Landau nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Had a cable from him just yesterday. Said he had a hunch you’d be headed my way. I thought he was going barmy. That you’d be cozied up with your husband somewhere, not traipsing over to the continent.” He lifted his arms to gesture to us. “But here you are.”
I didn’t know quite how to respond to that. As it was, I was fighting a guilty flush, as if I’d failed on some point in my devotion to my husband. I certainly couldn’t look at Sidney.
Fortunately, Landau continued, his face settling into more serious lines. “All right. Tell me all. This must be important.”
Though curious what C’s instructions to him had been, I knew better than to ask. In any case, I viewed his resolve to hear everything I’d learned as a good sign. Why else would he waste his time?
Unless he needed to know more to effectively block my efforts?
I shook that possibility aside. I felt I knew him well enough to expect more courtesy than that.
So I launched into my tale of the séance at Madame Zozza’s, her conjuring of Emilie, and the things I’d discovered since then. I also made mention of the medium’s real name of Mona Kertle, hoping either man would recognize it, but both protested having any knowledge of the woman. When I’d finished, his brow was scored with furrows.
“Well, that is concerning.” He sighed, staring sightlessly at his desk as he gave the matter some more thought.
I was accustomed to this response, for he never did anything hastily. I was merely gratified he hadn’t brushed the entire matter off as inconsequential, or told me it was none of my business, as Major Davis had. At one point, his gaze flicked to Captain Xavier, as if in question, and then back to his blotter.
For his part, Xavier still lolled against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other. Not a flicker of his real opinion showed in his eyes. But then I’d learned long ago how very good he was at concealing his thoughts. He’d had to in order to survive the assignments he’d undertaken.
By all appearances, Sidney seemed unruffled by my former superior’s silence as well. He settled back in his chair, removing his cigarette case and tipping it to each of the men. Landau waved it off, but Xavier crossed to take one with a softly worded “thank you.” However, I knew my husband well enough by now to realize that when he was growing tense or anxious he often chose to smoke in order to mask it. Especially when he exhaled so deeply after his first drag.
Xavier seemed to take note of this as well, watching him through half-closed eyes as he exhaled a stream of smoke. I wasn’t certain I liked him taking such an interest in Sidney. But then again, he probably did such things without even thinking, having lived so many years covertly.
Landau tapped the arms of his chair, coming to a decision. “I have met this woman you speak of, this midwife who operated under the code name Emilie. I interviewed her some months ago, and she was very much alive. Her real name is Rose Moreau.” My face must have registered my surprise, for he smiled. “Yes, it is difficult to imagine a woman less suited to such a name.”
My lips curled in answering amusement. “Where did this interview take place?”
“In Liège, at the former secret headquarters of La Dame Blanche. She had insisted on coming to me, rather than the other way around. Which was not entirely unusual. A number of other members did the same.” He frowned. “However, Emilie did ask me to convey any further correspondence or compensation from us to her former chiefs there in Liège, and they would forward it on to her. She said she’d decided to move, and she wasn’t quite certain where she would settle.”
“Did she say why?”
“She said the memories were too painful for her to remain in her old home, and I did not question this assertion. After all, she’d lost her husband and son to the war.”
I had not known this, though I had guessed. As a general rule, the agents in La Dame Blanche did not discuss their personal lives with one another, and I had been only too happy to abide by this. The less I could recall about them, the better, in case I should be caught and subjected to the German’s third-degree methods to elicit information from me. Plus, for rather more selfish reasons, I’d no desire to share my own troubles.
Landau grimaced. “Now I wonder if I should have.”
“Could she have moved for another reason? Perhaps to hide from someone? She seems to have been doing her best to keep her whereabouts unknown.”
He shrugged. “That I don’t know. But she didn’t seem unsettled or frightened. Merely worn down, as so many others were.”
My mouth twisted in commiseration. After four and a quarter years of war, who of us wasn’t? But the Belgians and the people of northeastern France had also been forced to contend with a harsh foreign occupation as well. Conditions had been insufferable, the people near starvation. And those working for British intelligence had known they could be betrayed or discovered at any moment.
Landau glanced up at Xavier. “You had nothing to do with La Dame Blanche, but did you by chance have any dealings with Madame Moreau? Ever hear the Germans mention her?”
At this comment, Sidney shifted in his seat, obviously deducing Captain Xavier’s wartime service had been an interesting one.
“I’m afraid not,” Xavier replied.
Landau shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m at a loss.”
“What of these threats Captain Xavier mentioned to Lord Ryde? Could Madame Moreau have received one?”
“Yes, we were just discussing that.” His chair squeaked as he leaned back, clasping his hands over his stomach. “They’re very odd, almost childish in nature. Letters scrawled in large letters on bits of paper or cardboard and left on their doorstep. I quite honestly don’t know what to make of them.”
“What do they say?”
“Various things. ‘I know who you are.’ ‘I’m not fooled.’ Or simply, ‘Spy’!”
My eyes widened.
“Most of the recipients have not been concerned. After all, many of them wanted their wartime service to be known. So many of the young men could not escape the occupied areas to join the armies and do their duty as they wished, so they settled for doing their bit here. And for the most part, they’ve been lauded for it.”
“But not by all?” I pressed, pouncing on his hesitation.
He shared a look with Xavier, as if debating how much to say. “The vast majority of Belgians are happy to have their country back and see the Germans sent packing. But there have been a few who are not so pleased. German loyalists who were content for things to remain as they were.” His face tightened with displeasure. “Most of these German loyalists have been satisfied with making their malcontent known in small, petty ways. But in May, someone bombed the police station in Blanken-berge, killing two officers and seriously injuring two more.”
I gasped. “Why didn’t we hear about this in London?”
Landau’s mouth flattened into a thin line, giving me my answer.
“Ah, I see the government’s propaganda is still at work.” I sighed. “Well, were the perpetrators at least caught?”
He shook his head. “Two brothers were suspected, but there wasn’t enough proof. And in the general chaos that’s gripped the country, no one came forward with more information. Most everyone is consumed with just the day-to-day necessities of surviving and beginning to rebuild. The economy is sluggish, the country’s coffers are empty, and half the villages and cities in the east are in ruins, not to mention those villages to the south that were burned when the Germans invaded five years ago. I’m afraid law and order are not the highest priority.”
“If that’s true, I’m surprised any of the members of La Dame Blanche want their service to be known,” I remarked in concern. “Doesn’t it put them at risk?”
“Don’t mistake me. These incidents of revenge are few and far between. For the vast majority of Belgians, their service to the Allies is a badge of honor. These threats are an aberration.”
“Then it’s no great secret who were agents. But would they have revealed their code names?” I asked, curious how many people were aware that Madame Moreau was Emilie.
He shook his head. “Though the existence of La Dame Blanche is now publicly known, they all swore by their oath not to reveal information concerning the service without formal permission. And that has not been granted.”
“Yes, but would they take such an oath seriously? Especially now that the war is over?” Sidney asked, speaking up for the first time since we’d sat. His face betrayed no scorn, merely genuine curiosity.
“Oh, yes,” Landau said, his voice growing fervent. “They organized their network as a militarized observation corps of the Allies, and they upheld that designation to the letter, fully prepared to court-martial any offenders. The entire operation was quite brilliantly constructed, each unit separated from the others as much as possible. Separate letter boxes. Separate couriers. So if one was compromised, the others would not be at risk of being apprehended, too. That’s why it was such a success.” It was evident he’d argued this point many times.
“So only the immediate members of Madame Moreau’s platoon even knew she was an agent, and possibly the person who manned the letter box, where she delivered reports in her role as a courier,” I explained to Sidney.
He leaned forward to stub his cigarette out in the crystal ashtray on the corner of Landau’s desk. “Then that narrows our pool of suspects considerably, doesn’t it? To the people in her platoon and those in the Secret Service who knew of her existence.”
“In theory,” Landau said. “But there are other ways the information could have spread. Did someone from that narrow pool break their oath and relay sensitive information to someone else? Did Madame Moreau confide in someone herself? Did someone witness something and fit the pieces together?”
“And we also have the connection to Madame Zozza to consider,” I reminded them. “How did she come by her information? Did someone put her up to performing such a trick, and then kill her to silence her? Not everyone would have the means to go to such lengths.”
“For that matter, why would they draw you out like that?” Xavier ruminated, still nursing his cigarette. “What of these ‘unearthed secrets’ the medium mentioned? Do you know what she was referring to?”
I hesitated only a moment, still finding it difficult to relay the intelligence I’d sworn to keep even in such company. But his eyes sharpened with interest, recognizing I was withholding something.
I glanced at Landau, who nodded his permission, which unstuck my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “I can think of two possibilities. Unless she was speaking metaphorically rather than literally. The first was a map case I stole from a German aviator in Chimay.” I didn’t explain how that was done. How I’d seized the chance encounter with one of their crack pilots—a gregarious fellow with a professed fondness for redheads. It had only cost me an evening of pretending to drink kümmel while he swilled enough to swim in, fending off his kisses long enough for him to pass out. “It contained a handful of maps marked with all the aviation fields behind a large section of the German front.”
“I doubt I need to explain how the information those maps supplied was incalculable. Particularly considering the fact that marking them in such a manner was entirely against German Army regulations,” Landau interjected. “God bless that aviator’s folly.”
I nodded, wondering again what had happened to that pilot when he’d confessed to his superior officer about his lost case. But such was the manner of war. “The maps were too large to transport in one piece, so we cut them into strips, numbered them so they could be quickly reassembled, and stitched them into the hem of my skirt for me to transport over the border. The rest of the papers we burned, but we buried the leather map case in the woods near the frontier between France and Belgium.”
Landau was already aware of these specifics, and Xavier had faced far more dangerous missions to be fazed by such a common tale. Sidney, however, was not. Though he hid it well, I could tell from his tightened jawline that he was not pleased. What I couldn’t tell was whether this was in reaction to hearing about the sometimes sordid assignments I’d undertaken and their inherent dangers, or because I hadn’t shared any of these “unearthed secrets” with him earlier.
Quite honestly, there had been so many aspects to my life with the Secret Service, so many facets big and small, that it would be impossible to share them all. So I had been operating sort of under a code of necessity, and these details hadn’t seemed to fall under that purview.
“You say you emptied the case, but could you have missed something?” Xavier asked as he stepped forward to stub out his cigarette. Rather than return to his slouch against the wall, he instead perched on the corner of Landau’s desk, far too close to me for my comfort.
“It’s possible,” I admitted. “The entire affair was somewhat rushed. It was done in the midst of Emilie attending to a birth. I’d actually met the German aviator as he was likely leaving the mother’s cottage, and he pressed me to join him for dinner. Given the fact that I suspected he was the young woman’s lover, possibly even the father of her baby, the proposition was distasteful.” I glanced at Sidney to gauge his reaction. “But in such situations, it was far more dangerous to decline and risk angering him. So I agreed, hoping he might let something useful slip.”
“As he did,” Landau confirmed.
I nodded. “So when the pilot passed out, I hurried back to the cottage where Emilie was still assisting the woman. Emilie had learned from one of the woman’s neighbors that there were German patrols in the area conducting random searches and making further requisitions of materials, so we realized we had to get rid of any incriminating evidence as swiftly as possible. And in fact, I very nearly stumbled into one of those patrols on my way back from burying the case in the woods behind the cottage. So it’s possible we missed something in our haste. But at the time, the maps were of chief importance. As well as discarding the proof that we’d had such materials in our possession.”
He nodded. “And the other possibility?”
I frowned, staring at the wall behind Landau’s desk as I thought back on it. “It was a somewhat odd occurrence, and it may mean nothing. But there was one instance when Emilie asked me to stand watch as she disappeared into the woods a short distance. When she returned, I noticed she was scrubbing dirt from her hands. She explained she’d sensed we weren’t alone in the forest and had buried a report she would retrieve later. I didn’t question her, having already learned to trust her instincts. And sure enough, not half a mile further along the lane, we encountered a patrol.”
“Did Emilie ever retrieve the report?” Sidney surprised me by being the one to ask.
“I don’t know. She was acting as a guide, conducting me to another rendezvous. I didn’t return with her.”
“And you never actually saw this supposed report?” Xavier pressed.
I shook my head. “But at the time, I had no reason to doubt her assertion. I’m still not sure I do. It was just something I thought of when Madame Zozza used the word ‘unearth.’”
“This isn’t the first I’ve heard of an operative discarding compromising information on a hunch,” Landau declared somewhat distractedly, his eyes seeming to peer into the distance. “Keen instincts are a powerful asset.” He blinked several times, refocusing his gaze in time to catch me watching him with interest. “Of the two, I find the aviator map case a more promising lead. Do you think you could find it again?”
“Maybe. If I can find my way back to that cottage where the woman was giving birth, I should be able to locate it.” But I didn’t think that was what he’d really wanted to hear.
He nodded decisively and opened a drawer of his desk to extract a piece of paper. “Then I think your next step should be to speak with the chiefs of La Dame Blanche in Liège. They will be able to tell you more about Emilie and these threats than I can. I’ll write you a letter of introduction, and that should smooth over any difficulties.”
“I’m headed in that direction myself. I can escort them to Liège.” Xavier grinned at us. “That is, so long as you don’t mind another passenger in your Pierce-Arrow.” From the gleam in his eyes, I knew he had seen me stiffen in alarm.
Had it been possible, I would have clubbed him. But as it was, there was nothing for me to do but smile in return. “That would be quite helpful.” I turned to my husband, forcing a brighter smile at the sight of him studying us. “Sidney?”
“If you can direct us where we need to go, then it’s fine by me.”
“I’ll just have to collect my luggage . . .” Xavier began as they rose to their feet, conferring with one another as they moved toward the door.
I remained seated, waiting on Landau to finish his letter of introduction.
Once complete, he folded it into thirds and passed it to me. “This and Xavier should convince them to talk, but if for some reason they should balk, have them telephone me directly.”
“Thank you.” I tucked the missive into my handbag, lowering my voice as I next spoke. “Is that all you wished to tell me?” I lifted my gaze to his pointedly.
His lips curled into a reluctant smile. “Should have known better than to think your instincts weren’t as finely tuned as ever.” His gaze flicked toward the doorway where Sidney and Xavier still stood talking. “All I can say is that some agents were forced to keep more secrets than others. Secrets that could come back to haunt them.”
My chest tightened upon hearing him echo my own thoughts, as I was feeling rather hounded by my own secrets at the moment. But outwardly I scowled. “That’s a rather oblique statement.”
He held up his hand. “I know, and I wish I could say more. But I can’t.” He lowered his voice further. “Other than to tell you that C instructed me to offer you whatever assistance you needed. Off the record, of course.”
“Of course,” I replied, unable to hide my sarcasm. I couldn’t recall the number of times I’d been told just such a thing. Though in this case, it was interesting to note that C’s orders were in direct contrast to Major Davis’s. Kathleen must have gotten word to him after all.
“And I will, any way I can.”
“Can” being the operative word.
Xavier called out from the doorway. “All set?”
Landau’s gaze did not release mine for a moment longer, but then he blinked, settling back in his chair as if our exchange had never happened.
“Yes,” I replied before telling my former superior, “I’ll be in touch.”
He nodded minutely, and I moved to join the other men.