Chapter 29
Jack worked through the night and was in Val’s office when she arrived just as Baker Street rumbled to life for a new day.
Val spotted him resting in a chair by the blacked-out window. ‘This is a surprise. Just as well I’m in early.’
Jack opened his eyes and straightened up. ‘You’re always in early. That’s why I waited …’
‘True enough,’ Val said, shrugging. ‘Although, I’m usually alone. Fair warning, if it’s anything complicated, which it probably is judging by the state of you still here at this ungodly hour, be a love and bring us some coffee.’
Jack brushed his fingers over the dark stubble on his chin and unfurled his tall, weary frame from the chair. Even with his rolled-up shirtsleeves and crumpled khaki trousers, he cut a dashing figure as he sprang into action. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, saluting Val with a wry smile. ‘Coffee, it is.’
With their heads together over the desk as they sipped their coffee, Jack showed Val his findings.
‘I’ve narrowed it down to three suspected traitors.
After checking the files of all the other members of staff, it’s impossible for any of them to have had the access they needed to information that would blow an operation. ’
‘And these three are intelligence officers, I presume?’ Val asked.
Jack nodded and lit a cigarette.
‘What’s the plan? I know you already have one,’ she said, pushing her glasses up her nose and staring at her prize agent, who was always one step ahead.
‘I could do some more digging and guess who the traitor is, but we both know that’s a fool’s game. The only way to know for sure is to plant false information for the three and see who acts on it.’
‘Ah, yes. The classic dead-drop trap. Makes sense, and it’s quick, which is critical to our mission in play. Uncovering a traitor who foiled past operations is one thing, but there is so much more at stake now.’
Jack exhaled, and the smoke looped in the air.
Val waved it away with her hand and coughed. ‘You’re going to kill us both before the war does. Have you thought of cutting it out?’
‘No,’ Jack said. ‘Where would be the fun in that?’
Val rolled her eyes. ‘Fill me in on the rest of it, and then you’d better get cracking. A few hours’ sleep might be in order first, though.’
They discussed what Jack had in mind, and Val agreed it was the best course of action. ‘Good luck,’ she said. ‘Keep your head down. You never know who might be involved in something like this.’
Back at the flat, Jack washed, shaved, and changed into civilian clothes.
It wouldn’t do to tail suspects in his captain’s uniform.
Checking his image in the hall mirror, he added a cap for good measure.
Now he looked more like a workman than an intelligence agent in uniform.
Satisfied with his transformation, he closed the door behind him and set out for the home address of one of the potential traitors.
He was relieved he didn’t know any of the intelligence officers personally, although he would probably recognise them from occasional crossed paths at Baker Street.
It would make the awkward situation simpler when he narrowed down who was the rotten apple in the Baker Street barrel.
The mere possibility of a traitor angered him, and his pace quickened as he stewed on the reality of a British agent collaborating with Nazi Germany. There had been several cases where traitors had been revealed, but Jack had never had to work on such an unsavoury one himself.
Lizzie entered his mind, and he imagined her walking the streets of Berlin, now potentially in even greater danger thanks to X Section’s double-crossing insider.
The thought made him furious and fuelled him in his tired state.
He wouldn’t be able to sleep when Lizzie and Hannah could be compromised at any moment. There would be time to sleep later.
Following another agent undetected required a high level of spycraft.
All agents were trained to check for tails and stay alert for anything or anyone unusual around them.
Fortunately, an SOE agent on home soil wouldn’t have their defences up as if they were undercover.
As it turned out, the first agent Jack followed was rather sloppy and barely looked around as he exited his house.
Jack held back, following at a distance to see where he went.
It was still only 7 a.m., but agents kept irregular hours, often working far longer shifts when something important was happening.
Was something important happening for this officer so early in the morning?
Jack followed him at a distance as he crossed the road and disappeared into the Underground.
Boarding a train, he sat immersed in his newspaper before alighting at Baker Street station.
Jack hid his face in a newspaper too and watched him, but so far, he did nothing out of the ordinary.
The agent headed for Baker Street, and Jack darted into a side road and watched as he entered the office.
So far, all Jack had accomplished was looping back to HQ, but at least he knew where the officer lived and what he looked like.
By now, exhaustion from working through the night was catching up with him, and he felt dead on his feet and discouraged by his fruitless first surveillance attempt.
He would monitor the agent again later, but without putting more people on the job, he wouldn’t be able to watch all three.
Lack of sleep had fogged his brain, and he realised he must enlist a few more agents to help him, which in itself was dangerous.
Every additional person involved in the tight circle risked alerting the double agent and spoiling the trap before he’d even set it.
Jack snatched a few hours’ sleep and returned to Baker Street later that morning where he grabbed a cup of coffee, locked his office door and holed up at his desk. It wasn’t long before his plan formulated in sharper detail, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.
Everything must run as usual, so no one suspected anything.
Each of the suspected officers would receive a piece of false information that only they were privy to.
The information must be presented as top secret and urgent enough that a double agent would take immediate action to pass it to his handler, who Jack guessed would be in Germany.
The fastest way was to seek them out individually. It was surprisingly easy and within thirty minutes he’d spoken to the first one whom he knew by sight. After introducing himself, the agent replied he had heard a lot about him and was pleased that he was working with them at X Section.
Jack looked over his shoulder, then said, his gravelly voice low, ‘Keep it under your hat for now, but I just heard the new Berlin mission will be expanding to Munich. We’re sending in another agent any day.’
The agent’s eyes widened as he took a drag on his cigarette. ‘Really? Things are moving faster than they have in a long time, then.’
Jack said, ‘We must build the new X Section fast and not let the failures of the past slow us down.’ After a few minutes of casual chatter, he slapped him on the back and went to seek his next suspect.
And so it continued until he’d spoken to all three.
The procedure was the same. He planted a fresh piece of false intelligence and made it sound so important that they must keep it to themselves for now.
The second officer puffed out his chest visibly, clearly thrilled to be approached by the legendary Raven, whom he only knew from afar but whose reputation was hallowed within the walls of Baker Street.
When Jack approached the third suspect, he leant closer to the man to confide his final false piece of information. ‘The courier route will be to Zurich going forward. Keep it to yourself for now, but I wanted to let you know. After reviewing your file, I see you are someone I can trust.’
Jack went to report back to Val, who was swearing as she tossed files out of the way and searched for something. ‘Lizzie coming back can’t come soon enough for me,’ she said.
‘I’ll second that,’ Jack said.
She raised her eyes from the pile of paperwork stacked in front of her. ‘Well, did they bite?’
Jack closed the door behind him and moved closer. ‘They did. It was almost laughable how easy it was to deceive them all. Of course, they may be such brilliant agents that they fooled me into thinking they bought it, but if I were a betting man, I’d say they all took the bait.’
‘Hmm, that’s marvellous news for our immediate needs, but ghastly for our long-term prospects. But we can’t worry about that now. What next?’
‘It’s lunchtime soon. I will need backup to follow them all. My guess is the guilty party will be off like a rocket to pass on such valuable information.’
Val assigned two agents, and after a brief discussion, they positioned themselves to observe the suspects to see what their movements would be during lunchtime.
Jack discreetly followed the chest puffer when he went into the canteen and sat at a corner table.
Jack welcomed the chance for a proper meal, as he hadn’t eaten since the previous day.
He sat on the opposite side of the canteen and ate quickly so he’d be ready to follow the agent when he left.
He didn’t have long to wait before the officer exited Baker Street, and Jack followed him in the shadows of the doorways towards St. James’s Park.
People were dotted around the park, enjoying the fresh air and exercise in their lunch breaks.
The man continued walking along until he sat on a bench near the lake, and after lighting a cigarette and reading the newspaper he pulled out of his coat pocket, a young woman joined him.
They rose together and walked into the trees until they were out of sight.
Jack cursed. If she were his contact, he couldn’t see the exchange properly without risking being spotted.
Nevertheless, he walked around the other side of the copse and glimpsed them through the branches.
The two were in a passionate embrace and Jack realised he was witnessing a lovers’ triste.
They kissed and then whispered to each other.
He stood frozen to the spot, watching them, hoping to see some kind of exchange of information, but there was no sign of anything like that.
The pair were clearly besotted with each other, and when they parted, Jack saw the regret on the woman’s face.
After she left him, the man dropped his head into his hand and touched his furrowed brow in despair.
This wasn’t their traitor. If he was anxious to pass the information he’d stumbled upon that morning, he wouldn’t have wasted time meeting his lover but would have hurried to make a dead drop at the first opportunity.
Jack sensed he was watching a man torn apart by love.
His file said he was married with children, so this must be an affair, which explained the secret rendezvous.
Jack slipped out of his concealed spot on the other side of the trees and waited at the edge of the park just to make sure he wasn’t meeting someone else before he left.
The man hurried to the gates and returned to Baker Street.
Jack almost crossed him off his suspect list, but if the other agents didn’t report an incident over lunch, he would follow him again after work to be certain.
Love could addle the brain, and perhaps the agent’s priorities were muddled.