Chapter Twenty-Nine

I stopped and turned to find a man in the British army uniform of a colonel standing behind me, blocking my way.

“I need to get in to make a phone call. The admiral gave me permission before he left to go to London. His secretary was supposed to be here to let me in.”

“She’s not here, is she?”

“Where is she? It’s important I get this message to London immediately.”

“She left half an hour ago. And the only place you’re going is the conference room by the front door while we straighten out your attempt to break into the admiral’s office. Come on. March.”

I put away my hairpin and strode out into the hall. Simon watched me as the colonel forced me down the hall toward the main door with a firm grip on my arm. “Call Sir M,” I shouted.

Simon stood looking shocked as I was quickly herded into the small room to the side of the front entrance.

We entered the tiny conference room where I was ordered to take a seat in a wooden folding chair as if I were a criminal. “If you’d just—”

“Name?” he barked.

I tried to remain calm while I used an upper-class attitude to tell him, “Olivia Redmond. Here’s my pass.”

He snatched it away. “It could be stolen.”

“Well, it’s not. I want to spe—”

“Quiet,” he snarled at me.

If this was an example of the quality of people Adam had to work with, I felt sorry for him.

A man dressed in civilian clothes came in and my jailer nodded to him. “Who’s this?” the new man asked.

“Olivia Redmond,” I answered.

“Do not speak unless you are directly spoken to.” The colonel then relented. “Where do you work?”

“Are you supposed to ask that? There is the small matter of the Official Secrets Act.”

The man in civilian dress said with an air of patience stretched to the limit, “We just want to clear this up and get you back to work.”

“Hut Six.”

The two men exchanged a look that clearly said Another of those nutters. “Go over to the hut and get someone in charge to come down and verify her identity.” The colonel sounded annoyed.

The civilian left, taking my pass with me, and I sat, staring angrily at the colonel. That did me no good, since he never once looked in my direction.

Minutes ticked by on the clock over the doorway. I began to picture ever-worse disasters occurring, with secrets being leaked, spies escaping, and the Countess of Haymarket, Betty, and Elsie being murdered. And now that I had time to sit and think, I realized I was hungry from having missed my lunch.

I was becoming impatient and wanted to ask the colonel to call the admiral’s secretary when John burst into the room. “Olivia, what is going on?”

“I was supposed to call London this afternoon using the admiral’s phone. The admiral’s gone to London, but his secretary was supposed to let me in. She—”

“She was sent to London with papers for the admiral a short time later. But why are you here?” John asked.

“Not finding the secretary, I tried to open the door by an alternative method—”

“Alternative method?” John asked.

I tried to look innocent, but I’m sure I failed. “—so I could use the telephone and this colonel saw me and dragged me in here. And he took my pass.”

“I have your pass. Let’s go and stop wasting the assistant director’s time.” John stared at me. “Or mine. We are a woman down.”

“Two women down. Rosalie went home ill.”

“Do you verify that she is one of yours?” the colonel asked with a note of distaste in his voice.

“Oh, good grief,” I muttered.

The colonel was still ignoring me. John assured him I was part of his staff and the colonel told him to maintain better discipline in his office. Neither showed any interest in introducing me to the colonel. John handed me my pass and we walked out of the room.

As I began to head toward the admiral’s office, John said, “Simon already called in whatever it was you were supposed to tell someone.”

“Then I need to talk to Simon.”

We walked to Hut Six and I went to the Machine Room. When he saw me, Simon headed toward me, pulling on his coat. “Outside,” he muttered as he passed me.

I followed him, while John shook his head as he went into the Decoding Room.

“Did you call Sir M?” I asked once we were far enough outside the building that I wasn’t worried about anyone hearing me.

“Yes. He wants you to call him.”

“That’s what started this confusion. Where did you call from?”

“The admiral’s office. By the way, his secretary had to go to London with papers for her boss.”

“I heard. How did you get in?”

“I picked the lock.” He gave me a smug smile.

“That’s what I was doing when I got caught by some colonel.”

“Well, I wasn’t daft enough to get caught.” He smirked at me.

I really wanted to choke him. I restrained myself enough to say, “Come with me. Let’s make sure this call goes through.”

We crossed over to the main house quickly and walked into the secretary’s office. Simon immediately unlocked the doorknob to the admiral’s office with a small piece of metal and stood holding the door open for me.

I went inside and picked up the receiver of the phone on the far side of the desk to make my call, knowing the conversation would be encrypted. Simon followed me in and leaned against the door.

When Sir Malcolm came on the line, I said, “I know who the traitor is and I think I know why she killed Sarah Wycott and Aileen MacLeith.”

“Go on,” he said.

“It’s Fiona Carter. She’s putting her messages in Morse code into the stitches of the scarves she’s giving to the WI. One of the WI ladies, Mrs. Hubbard, wasn’t known in the village until a couple of years ago. She sends the scarves or the message on somehow. You’ll have to find out the next step from her.”

“And Miss Carter? How much does she know?”

“Quite a bit. She works in the Registration Room in Hut Six. The message on the scarf she’s going to hand in tonight is ‘Progress deciphering Enigma. Possible broken codes.’ In German,” I added.

“Blast.”

“Yes, sir.” My feelings exactly. “The Countess of Briarcliffe, who also works in Hut Six, is knitting a replacement scarf with the message ‘Failed deciphering Enigma. Closing down unit,’ in German.”

“Where will you make the switch?” Sir Malcolm sounded intrigued.

“If all goes well, at the WI tonight. Will you be sending people out to make the arrests?”

“What time will Miss Carter be at the WI handing off the scarf?”

“We always get there about eight.”

“We’ll be there then to make the arrests after she is clear of the WI.” Sir Malcolm hung up without saying good-bye. As usual.

I told Simon what Sir Malcolm said and we went back to our workstations after relocking the admiral’s office door.

Now that I knew everything was in place for this evening’s arrest and I would soon be going home, my mind kept wandering from my work. I finally took a deep breath, told myself not to be so silly, and got down to work decrypting messages.

At the end of the day, we all packed up and headed for the gates and the bus, which at least made a decent windbreak even if it wasn’t warm. We rode back to Bloomington Grove in good spirits, although the walk from the stop to the top of the rise to enter the servants’ wing was dark and even colder than before due to the wind.

No one would be outside who could help it. However, tonight was the night we turned in our knitting to the WI in Little Bricton, necessitating a long, cold walk along a dark lane.

And I had to keep an eye on Fiona and her scarf if I was to make the switch.

All of us, including Rosalie, sat down to dinner soon after we entered our billet. Elsie made certain our vegetable stew was hot, which was welcome, and flavored with a beef bone, which was delicious. There was no bread, but there were enough potatoes in the stew that it filled us up.

Fiona was sitting across the table and up one from me, and when I looked in her direction, she was watching me. Did I put something away wrong in her room? Did someone tell her what we did today? I finished my mouthful and said, “It’s going to be cold walking to the WI tonight.”

She shrugged and continued eating her stew.

“When are we leaving for the WI?” I asked when we rose from the table.

“I still have to finish my second sock,” Maryellen said. “Won’t take but a minute.”

“Don’t dawdle,” her sister said. “Get started and I’ll do your washing up.”

I followed Marianne into the scullery with more dishes.

“I don’t know that I want to go back out in that cold,” Marianne said.

“What do we do about Aileen’s knitting? Did she have anything finished to turn in?” I asked.

“I think she had a cap or two finished. Can we check her room to see about getting them?” Marianne said.

“Our keys fit each other’s rooms. We can get in there and get the caps and lock her room up again. Who’s boxing everything up to send to Edinburgh?”

“Probably Betty. She was the one who cleaned out your room after Sarah was murdered.” Then Marianne looked at me and said, “I can’t believe we’re talking about it so—so matter-of-factly.”

“If we didn’t, we’d all go crazy.” Actually, I was constantly walking around with guilt over Aileen’s death on my shoulders. That I couldn’t admit it made it worse.

Marianne handed me another bowl and more utensils to put away in their spot in the scullery. “Come on, Livvy. If we hurry, we’ll stay warm.”

With much fussing and bundling up and promises from Betty of hot tea when we returned, we were ready on time. I tucked the scarf Rosalie had finished that afternoon around my neck so I could avoid mistaking it for anything else we were turning in to the WI.

“Where’s Fiona?” Maryellen asked, her socks finished and her coat on.

“I don’t know. Go find her,” Marianne said.

Two minutes later, Maryellen returned. “She’s not in her room or the washroom or the loo. Has anyone seen her?”

We all shook our heads. It was only seven-twenty and Sir Malcolm wouldn’t be here until eight. I walked over to Betty and spoke very quietly. “Did you or anyone else say anything to Fiona about this afternoon’s activities?”

She looked at me, wide-eyed. “No. We know our duty.” Then she released a long breath. “She seemed to be watching us all tonight. I think something caught her attention, warned her that something wasn’t right. But Elsie and I didn’t tell her,” she whispered. “Nor did anyone else.”

“The countess?” I was sure she was the weak link.

“Never comes down here.” Betty shook her head. “Wasn’t one of us.”

“Maybe she’s already left,” I suggested when I returned to the knitters.

“Did anyone see her leave?” Marianne asked.

Shrugs and shaken heads were the only reply.

“We might as well go,” Maryellen said. “Maybe we’ll meet her on the way.”

I deliberately stayed between the Allen sisters while the three of us walked down the lane. It was at least a half-mile to Little Bricton down a dark, hedge-shrouded road. I felt vulnerable the entire walk, no matter how fast we moved in the chilly wind. The hedges shifted, but was it from the wind or because someone was lurking there?

We crossed the village quickly and entered the WI hall as a group. I immediately looked around for Fiona, but I didn’t see her. I also couldn’t find Mrs. Hubbard.

When it was my turn to hand in my scarf, I asked, “Have you seen Miss Carter?”

“No. Didn’t she come with you?”

Something had definitely warned Fiona that we were on to her, since she hadn’t arrived to deliver her knitting. “Where is Mrs. Hubbard? I wanted to show her my scarf, since she was so helpful with a few hints the last time I was here.”

“She told Mrs. Linfield she wouldn’t be able to make tonight’s meeting. Some friend came to pick her up shortly afterward and they drove out of the village.”

“Toward Bletchley?”

“Now that you mention it, yes.”

Mrs. Hubbard could be escaping by train or by auto. Either way, she had whatever secrets Fiona had passed to her. I wondered if that car was the one that had taken aim at me.

And where was Fiona? Had she escaped with her? That was what I would do if I knew I’d soon be arrested for treason and murder.

If Fiona had run off, that meant she wouldn’t be here to attack me in the lane on the return journey to Bloomington Grove. I really hoped she had left the district. But how could we exchange the scarves?

“Could you see how many people were in the car?” I asked.

“How many people—? I don’t pay that much attention to my neighbors’ comings and goings.” She gave me a quizzical look. “I’m not that nosy. And it was far too dark to tell anything.”

“Of course,” I said.

“Olivia, we’re ready to go,” Maryellen called out. Already, Marianne was heading out the door.

I thanked the woman and raced after my colleagues, seeing on the hall clock that it was seven forty-five. By the time I left the hall, the Allen twins were halfway across the village.

No matter how much I hurried, Marianne and Maryellen, both athletes, widened the distance. In the dark, I soon lost sight of them, and by the time I left the dark shapes of the village cottages behind, I no longer heard the echo of their footsteps on the road or their voices in the wind.

I hurried as much as I could while I tried to keep watch all around me. I hoped Fiona had left with Mrs. Hubbard. She was a killer and I didn’t want to suffer the same fate as Sarah Wycott and Aileen MacLeith.

As I came up to the bend in the lane where Sarah’s body had been found, my steps started to slow. It wasn’t much farther to safety, but the cold air I was dragging in with every breath was now burning my lungs. I took two long breaths and then started to speed up.

That was when a figure sprang out from the hedgerow.