Inspector Collier turned onto the road outside the gates of Lambert Manor. Earlier, light snow had fallen making the road slick. An inky, cloud-spattered and brooding sky blotted out the moon. Gusts of wind rattled windows in the Wolseley. His unfamiliarity with the country route made driving conditions treacherous. He slowed down. At each turn, his headlights splashed off the embankments while on the straightaway their beams barely sliced through the moist-laden darkness. The route’s edge, his only means of navigation, shimmered at the periphery from the car’s lights. Beyond the shoulder lay deep, unforgiving gullies. A thin film of perspiration had formed on his forehead. White knuckled, he refused to release a hand from the steering wheel to wipe it away.
Captain Hall turned on the overhead light.
“Oi! Turn off that bloody light.”
The car swerved one way then the other before sliding to a stop. He reached to turn off the light when her hand locked onto his wrist like a trap. Gently, with strength, she redirected his intent. If he could have spit bullets, he would have done it right then and there. Biting down on his lower lip, he let his eyes say it instead.
For a long moment neither said a word. Finally, she broke the silence. “I’m sorry.” She looked out the windshield before turning back. “I was thoughtless. But I thought if I could decipher this code before we got back to the station maybe it would speed up things.”
“What code?”
“The one I found in Werner’s bedroom.” She pulled up her collar and wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the chill.
“You took it? Was that wise?”
She smiled. “No, I didn’t take it, at least not in a manner of speaking. It’s here.” She pointed to her head.
“Uh-huh. Okay. Is he likely to know that someone has been rummaging through his things?” He felt uncomfortable thinking of the possible repercussions.
“Not likely, there wasn’t enough time. The paper the code was scribbled on was in plain sight. So, either he hadn’t decoded it, or he had and hadn’t yet dispensed of it in the fireplace. I think his sweet tooth got the better of him. Remember? That’s how I met him—in the pantry.”
“I remember. You took a bit of risk doing that.”
“Perhaps,” she replied with a dismissive shrug. “It’s interesting, you know.”
“What is?”
“When your quarry doesn’t know he is the quarry and that he’s been found by the hunter.”
I sure hope she’s right. My worst fear is that she’s no match for his wits. “So, what did you think of him?” She stared at him for what he thought was an uncomfortably long time.
“I felt as if I’d been licked all over by a cat and now, I’m in need of a bath.”
He shivered from the image. “Evil, aptly described.”
“Since we’ve stopped and the light…well, it’s on. Do you mind?” She held up a notepad and pencil retrieved from her shoulder bag.
He cleared his throat and surveyed the weather. “Weather doesn’t appear to be getting worse. I guess not. Are you sure it can’t wait?” To his chagrin, he realized she was no longer listening to him. Resigned, he observed with great interest while she wrote numbers grouped in threes on her page.
He pointed at the notebook. “How could you possibly remember all that?”
“I have an eidetic—more commonly known as photographic memory.” She hesitated. “It has its good and bad side.”
She scrutinized the coded message for a few seconds before shaking her head in disgust. Hurriedly, she began to translate it:
INTEL HIGHEST PRIORITY
GLEIWITZ CONFIRMED
PREPARATIONS FOR FALLWEISS CONCLUDED 20 AUG.
When she was completed, she hammered the point of her pencil into the page. “There! Now, why anyone would continue to use a QWERTY code is beyond me. No matter. This here, I think, pointing to (………) R Q I ! is the signature of the sender. Based on our intel, there’s a very good likelihood the signature belongs to an Otto Imhoff—a key person in Werner’s sleeper cell. Beyond that we know nothing about him. The informant who was to pass that information on to us disappeared. And, the NKVD whom we believe do know won’t—to say it politely—share with us.”
“The Russians are part of this?”
“As it turns out, the NKVD is important to getting your son and his fiancée safely home. Whether you know it or not the Soviet Union has the most active and best-resourced intelligence organization in the world. Our asset is that they hate fascists. Unfortunately, we are often at cross-purposes. And there, Inspector, lies the rub.”
He attempted to discern the full translation but was unable to since most of it was in shadow. “Any idea what GLEIWITZ CONFIRMED means?”
She nodded. “Thanks to Queenie we do. But I can say no more.” She closed the notepad and returned it along with the pencil to her bag. “If our plan is to work, she has an important job to do this night.”
“You appear concerned.”
“Not about that.” She opened the door. “Switch spots.”
Before he could complain she had made her way around to the driver’s side and pulled him out, taking his place. “Hurry up!” she shouted, patting the passenger seat. Once he was seated, she smiled at him. “I thought it best.”
She put the vehicle in gear, the back wheels spun. Then, with a sudden jerk, the treads gripped the road and the Wolseley sped off.
“I don’t know whether I told you, Inspector, but I used to drive racing cars stateside. So, you’re in good hands. Anyway, where I come from, I’ve had a lot of experience driving in this slop.”
Unnerved by her driving, he held on tightly to his seat as they slid, yet again, into another bend in the road.
__________
“Humpty Dumpty once on Lambert’s wall stood
His intent a great fall within;
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Couldn’t stop Humpty from killing all within.”
Werner Gruener felt a great deal of satisfaction as he walked through the gates of Lambert Manor. The Robert McTavish disguise discarded, he was ready for the next leg of his mission.