Mr.Churchill's Secretary(80)

“Ah,” said John, putting the pieces together.

“And what about her father?” David asked, straining to see the road ahead.

“Miss Hope believed he passed away in ’sixteen. We were concerned that if she found out he was still alive, she’d compromise his cover. Or that he’d compromise his cover—which, of course, he did.” He looked at David. “Once I found out what sort of a fool’s errand you and Miss Hope were on, I realized that I needed to make a few calls.”

“So he’s not really insane?” David said.

Snodgrass shrugged. “It was necessary—is necessary. There’s a spy at Bletchley. That’s how the Germans know to keep changing the rotator wheels for their ciphers once we manage to break them. And with Professor Hope considered brilliant but mad, we hoped that the spy would slip up and reveal himself.”

“Has he?” David asked.

“Not yet,” Snodgrass replied. “But we’re close. Very close.”

“But what about Maggie? And her father?” John said.

“Professor Hope must have, somehow, secretly asked Miss Hope to meet with him. It was inevitable, really—he hadn’t seen her for years, and having her think he was mad proved too much for him. We knew there was a chance that he’d attempt to reveal more.”

“But what happened to them?” David asked.

“He’s close to finding out who the German spy at Bletchley is. Or, failing that, by their removing him from the equation, our ability to break German ciphers would be seriously diminished. I’m afraid that’s the significance of Operation Hope.”

David’s tone was grim, and his hands tightened on the wheel. “So they’re going to either break him or kill him?”

Snodgrass tilted his head. “Most likely break him, then kill him.”

John started. “And what about Maggie?”

“Hope probably wouldn’t break himself,” Snodgrass said. “But if …” He trailed off delicately.

“If his daughter’s in danger, he just might,” David finished, pressing harder on the gas pedal.

Roger watched Maggie and her father while Pierce went to the car for his radio. There was an uncomfortable silence.

“Rather awkward, what?” Roger offered up.

Edmund looked away, pretending to be interested in a row of chipped crockery on the shelf.

“Indeed,” Maggie replied lightly. “My name is Maggie Hope, and this is my father, Edmund,” she said, giving them names, trying to humanize them in the eyes of their captors. “How do you do?” Maggie said to Leticia, giving her the most winning smile she could muster.

Pierce entered with his suitcase radio. “Shut up,” he snapped to Maggie, setting it down on the table and opening it. Leticia helped set up the aerials for transmission and then waited, nearly giddy with anticipation, as they heard the empty hiss of the airwaves.

Pierce typed out his code slowly and carefully. “It’s been a while,” he said, almost apologetically.

On the other end, there was an explosion of typing. Pierce copied it down, then asked for a repeat.

“Is that really Berlin?” Leticia breathed.

“Hamburg, actually.”

From his bag he procured his codebook. It took him several minutes to decrypt the message.

Finally, he looked up. “I have confirmation that they want me to break you both and then take the remaining one to Berlin,” he said.





TWENTY-FIVE





“CAN’T YOU GO any faster?” John called from the cramped backseat.

“Mr. Sterling,” Snodgrass barked from the passenger seat. “Mr. Greene is driving an ancient car, with watered-down petrol, in the midst of a blackout. Perhaps you’d like to take over?”

“She’s not old,” David said from the driver’s seat, pushing up his glasses and then patting the leather-covered dashboard. “She’s vintage. Like a fine Bordeaux. And since yours blew a tire in Bletchley, she’s all we’ve got.”

“Maggie needs us. Her father needs us,” John said.

Snodgrass looked in the mirror back toward John, and his face softened for a moment. “And we’ll get there. Hang on, old boy.”

“You’re sure we’re going the right way?” David insisted.

“Mr. Frain has had men watching Malcolm Pierce. He believes Pierce will be going from Bletchley to a safe house before trying to leave the country. Apparently, one of the London Saturday Club’s members has a contact nearby, and that’s where Mr. Frain thinks Pierce will take Maggie and her father. At some point, somehow, they’ll probably try to leave the country.”