Chapter 41
Today was vault day, and when Lizzie rolled over in bed, she felt her heartbeat accelerate into a high-speed thump as soon as her thoughts of what she must do registered in her body. Admiring the pink sun rising over the white peaks, she calmed herself using techniques she’d learnt in her training.
Today would be make or break. If Brunner wasn’t willing to copy any more documents for her, this would be her last chance to get what she needed to prove the Swiss government’s ultimate betrayal of their pledge of neutrality.
It was the culmination of her mission, and everything seemed to have brought her to this critical day.
What could go wrong? she asked herself as she sipped her tea and ran through her plan for visiting the bank.
The biggest risk was that Brunner was setting her up and had reneged on their agreement, but if that were true what would be the benefit of permitting her access to the vault where she would be privy to everything the bank wanted to keep secret from the Allies?
It seemed pointless, and surely he would have been much more likely to send her away with no more information at all.
He could easily make the excuse that he was being watched by his partner and it was too dangerous to continue, but it was Brunner who had proposed she enter the vault and take what she needed.
That’s why, even with the niggling doubts, she still trusted Brunner and would go today, despite Tom’s warnings.
The previous day, he told her there would be little he could do if she got caught.
Lizzie had said she didn’t expect him to do anything except provide the camera.
Tom had extracted the tiny piece of mechanical wizardry, perfect for spies to gather intelligence behind enemy lines, from a safe in the room to which only he held the key.
He passed her the miniature camera and ran through instructions on how to use it, and Lizzie listened for any changes, but fortunately it was the same as the equipment she’d last used in St. Malo, and she was confident it would do the job.
The camera was still in the cipher room under lock and key, and she would retrieve it from Tom before leaving at 10.30 a.m. for her trip to the bank.
The first couple of hours at her desk passed quickly, but the tension increased in her chest as she translated documents for Pemberton, and he called her into his office for a meeting about the latest commercial developments.
She looked around his room discreetly as he fumbled for an agenda in his drawer, talking as he searched for it about a diplomatic reception he wanted her to attend the following week.
For some time, she had suspected her boss of being up to no good and she’d shared her thoughts with Tom, but after several searches of his office and watching him closely since soon after she arrived, she’d concluded he was just a typical self-serving diplomat who enjoyed his status and free lunches a little too much.
Pemberton was doing his job adequately as far as she knew, and didn’t seem guilty of any perfidy, after all.
Tom agreed with her, saying he thought him a tad lazy, but that wasn’t a crime.
Pemberton was in a jovial mood this morning, and Lizzie judged it a good time to broach the subject of the missing diplomatic pouch.
‘Sir, we sent some reports from the cipher room to London via the diplomatic pouch some time ago, but it still hasn’t been received.
And we are ready to send more documents, but Tom said the next pouch is delayed. ’
Pemberton twiddled his pen and laid the agenda on his desk before flipping it around to face her. ‘Ah, here it is. This is what I wanted you to see. It’s an important event and I’ll need you there.’ His tone was preoccupied, as if he hadn’t heard her speak.
Lizzie scanned the agenda. ‘Very well, sir. I’ll add it to my diary and will accompany you, of course.’
Pemberton checked his watch. ‘Jolly good! I really depend on you, Elizabeth. I’m afraid my German is non-existent, as you probably noticed.’
Her boss dismissed her in that way of his, switching his attention to another task. His words and his body language indicated that their meeting was over and it was time for her to leave his office.
Lizzie gathered her papers and stood, waiting for the right second to repeat her concerns about the diplomatic pouch. Then the phone rang, and Pemberton put his hand over the receiver in a clear sign he wanted to speak privately to whomever had called, and he was waiting for her to leave the room.
Closing the door behind her, the uneasy feeling that he was hiding something returned. It was the same feeling she’d had soon after her arrival in Bern when she suspected him of something, but she didn’t know what.
Today, she wondered whether she had been right about him all along. Why didn’t Pemberton want to discuss the missing diplomatic pouch?
Fortunately, her boss hadn’t asked her what her actions would be later that morning, and she and Tom had planned her cover story meticulously in case someone asked her whereabouts whilst she was out.
It was too early for a lunch break, and there was no plausible reason for her to visit Brunner he would be grateful if the fictionalised update put her mother’s mind at rest.
Lizzie weaved through the Old Town, checking for shadows and watching for anything out of the ordinary.
It was more important today than ever to arrive at the bank without being followed.
There was only one point where she thought she glimpsed a man tailing her, but when she did a loop and returned to the side street, he was nowhere in sight, and she dismissed it as nothing.
The intelligence people hadn’t been following her for quite some time now, and there was no reason to suspect they would follow her today. Unless Brunner had set her up.
The thought hovered in her mind as she entered the financial district by the Federal Palace and passed several major banks.
It was only a few minutes until she saw the discreet private bank ahead, and the polished brass plate of Brunner & Cie gleamed on the door in the pale sunlight.
Checking her watch, she saw it was one minute to eleven.
Lizzie slowed her pace slightly, glancing around the elegant street and watching for signs of anything unusual, but it all seemed normal, and she raised her hand to the knocker.
If this were a trap, she’d know soon enough.