Chapter 38
Frau Fischer excused herself, saying she must prepare to serve dinner. The cell leader thanked her and then extracted a folder from inside his overcoat and walked over to Lizzie, where he placed it on the table next to her.
Lizzie’s fingers brushed the newspaper Eli had given her.
She cursed the fact that she hadn’t removed the family’s documents and tucked them into a compartment in her bag instead of leaving them loose in the newspaper.
There were so many things she would have done differently if she had known an official of the Nazi party would inspect her upon her return.
Her hand curled over her personal identification papers, and she extracted them and laid them on the table, doing her best to keep her hand steady.
The official took the papers and spread them out. After checking a document and remarking on what he read, he wrote her name and ticked boxes on a sheet of paper in his folder.
‘You are from Colmar, I see. What a wonderful coincidence,’ he said, his eyes searching hers.
Needles of terror pricked Lizzie’s skin. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said. ‘A lovely place, and I do miss it sometimes, but it’s good to be in Berlin fulfilling my destiny as a loyal German citizen.’
‘Quite,’ he said, smacking his moist lips together, clearly approving of her sentiments. Then he fell quiet as he continued studying her documents, and Lizzie prayed the moment when he might quiz her on details of her fictional hometown had passed.
With every undercover mission, the risk increased that she would meet someone who recognised her, or someone would question her cover story and find her knowledge lacking.
The cell leader resumed speaking, his hands hovering between her documents.
‘I visited Colmar on business just before the war. Such a beautiful place. Where did you and your family live, and what business was your husband in? I might even know it, as I stayed for some months and became quite familiar with the local community.’
Lizzie swallowed the lump in her throat. He must suspect her cover was fake, or he wouldn’t be prolonging the inspection like this. This was exactly the kind of question she had dreaded.
Hannah interjected. ‘Our husbands were brothers and worked together in their carpentry business. It was a modest affair, so you probably wouldn’t have heard of it.
And of course, it was forced to close when they were conscripted.
And then …’ Her words faded away, and she sniffed as if talking about the tragedy was agony.
Lizzie nodded, and gratitude flowed through her. She had almost frozen in her state of panic, but now her courage returned. ‘Before I married, I lived with my family in a small house by the river. When my husband left, I had to move back in with them for a while.’
The official nodded. ‘These times require fortitude and sacrifice. I have a great fondness for Alsace and will return after the war. What a blessing it is rightfully ours once more.’
Then he addressed Hannah. ‘I must say, your German is impressive. It’s like that of a native Berliner.’
Without missing a beat, she replied, ‘What a compliment. My father was German, and he insisted we always spoke the language together, which I am thankful for.’
He seemed to accept her story and passed Lizzie’s papers back to her before his eyes moved to her handbag, where the forged documents lay inside the folded newspaper that poked out the top of the slumped bag.
‘Is that the Das Reich, by any chance?’ he asked, pointing to it. ‘I didn’t have a chance to buy a copy today, what with the urgent inspections.’
Lizzie replied dutifully in the way an official might expect, but alarm rocketed through her, and she touched the knitting needle in her pocket. ‘Yes, would you like to take it?’
‘Thank you, that’s very kind,’ said the cell leader, indicating he was happy to accept Lizzie’s newspaper.
Lizzie just wanted him gone, but now she faced the problem of passing the newspaper without revealing the forged documents.
Hannah asked if everything was satisfactory with her papers.
‘I see you work at the Air Ministry. How commendable,’ he replied, clicking his tongue as he studied her documents. ‘Your native German really is paying off.’
‘It is a great honour,’ she agreed, smiling sweetly.
Herr Vogel had excused himself earlier, but now returned with a tray. ‘Ersatz lemonade.’
None of them had tasted the real thing in years.
‘Frau Fischer insists,’ he said, placing the tray with a jug of pale liquid and glasses on the table.
Hannah looked at Lizzie and then poured the lemonade.
On filling the second glass, some of the drink spilt onto the table.
Lizzie snatched her bag from the surface and turned and shook the documents out of the newspaper, so they tumbled to the bottom of her bag.
Then she slowly withdrew the publication.
Lizzie barely dared raise her eyes, as she feared everyone in the room must have seen her furtive actions, but the cell leader was caught up in rescuing Hannah’s papers from the wet surface, and Hannah was frantically dabbing the table with her handkerchief.
‘How clumsy of me!’ she said. ‘I must get a cloth. Please take a seat on the sofa so the lemonade doesn’t spoil your smart coat, Zellenleiter.’
Lizzie was grateful for Hannah’s cunning and thought she had got away with removing the priceless documents, but as she turned, she saw Herr Vogel watching her intently.
He had been a malevolent presence from the beginning, and he unsettled her.
It was impossible to say if he had observed something strange or if he was just lurking as usual.
‘Please, take it, and sorry for the inconvenience,’ Lizzie said, passing the creased newspaper to the cell leader.
‘Thank you. I’ve stayed too long and must be on my way now,’ he said, reaching out his hand.
The tension gradually loosened in Lizzie’s chest. He didn’t seem to suspect anything, and thanks to Hannah’s quick thinking, she’d saved the family’s documents.
Hannah accepted her papers as he returned them to her.
The landlady appeared and said she must serve dinner, or it would be ruined.
‘Would you care to join us, Zellenleiter Brandt?’ she asked.
‘I daresay we can stretch our rations to another serving, in gratitude for the wonderful work you are doing.’
The cell leader seemed to genuinely consider the invitation, and Lizzie couldn’t believe their bad luck. If it wasn’t incriminating enough that she had forged documents for the Kaufmanns and Liesel in her bag, they also had the Nazi weapon secrets.
The cell leader paused, but then suddenly decided. ‘It smells delicious, and I’d love to, but I’m afraid I won’t finish my rounds if I don’t continue now. Thank you for your hospitality, Frau Fischer. Perhaps next time I will join you.’
Next time …
Lizzie saw him out with a shudder, her handbag pressed firmly to her side, desperate to see him go.
After she closed the front door, she leant against it for a moment, allowing her pent-up fears to dissipate before joining the others in the dining room.
Her bag would be safer with her until she had time to hide the documents properly.
‘Is everything alright, Frau Weber?’ asked a familiar, menacing voice from the shadows.
‘Herr Vogel! You made me jump. Yes, of course, everything is fine. I was just overwhelmed by the visit of such an important official. I’m a provincial girl and not at all used to these kinds of inspections from high-level officials.’
Herr Vogel appeared and studied her, a tic flexing in his jaw. Something told her he didn’t believe her.
Then he said in a curt tone, ‘You’d better come for dinner. Frau Fischer says it’s almost burnt, and we must eat immediately.’
In the attic, Lizzie changed into her nightdress and lay down on her bed. Hannah perched on one side, removing her shoes and rubbing her aching feet.
‘That was a heck of a surprise, him turning up just when I’d got the documents,’ Lizzie whispered. ‘Well done on spilling the lemonade. You saved our skin!’
Hannah laughed softly. ‘I didn’t know for sure, but I could tell there was something you didn’t want him to see.’
‘That was a really close call …’
‘Talking of which, where did you hide the documents?’ Hannah asked.
‘They’re in the secret compartment in my suitcase. What about the intelligence from the source?’
Hannah jiggled her shoe. ‘It’s safest to keep it on me during the day, given Vogel’s propensity for searching our room. The source said she can’t pass anything more to me now because she’s being monitored closely and it’s too dangerous.’
Lizzie told Hannah how Vogel had been spying on her in the hallway.
‘He is more worrying than the cell leader,’ Hannah said. ‘It’s always the quiet ones you must watch. He has no power, but clearly, he craves it.’
Lizzie agreed. ‘Yes. Let’s wrap things up and get out before he becomes a genuine threat.’
Hannah nodded. ‘We’ve got what we came for, so it’s time to leave. I need to tie up a few loose ends, and then I will disappear and never set foot in that vile ministry again. It won’t be a moment too soon.’
‘What will you tell them?’
Hannah studied the ceiling, deep in thought. ‘I need an excuse to leave suddenly without causing problems for the source, just in case they connected us somehow.’
‘True. You’ve done so well,’ Lizzie said. ‘It’s amazing how you’ve fooled them all.’
‘What about you? What needs to happen on your end before we leave?’
‘Well, the sooner I deliver the intelligence to London the better, but before I do, I must honour some commitments here.’
Hannah’s expression softened. ‘The family?’
Lizzie nodded. ‘Yes, and Liesel. I have to get them out. Leaving Liesel in the orphanage is far too dangerous, and I promised the Kaufmanns.’
‘You have a kind heart. Remember, I can help too. Whatever you need, just let me know.’
‘Thank you,’ Lizzie said. And with that, they talked through the ways they could get the family to Switzerland without them being spotted by someone who might recognise them.
They had vanished, gone underground one day, and the odds were, someone who was interested in such things would wonder where they had gone.
‘We must get them on the train out of Berlin, and if there are no surprises on the way to Basel and their papers hold up to inspection, it will be fine,’ Hannah said.
‘What about the courier drop? Could they take the package with them, and that way we complete the mission in one hit? Or do you want me to deliver it to Bern personally?’
Lizzie pushed herself up onto her elbows. ‘It could work to give it to them, but it’s too much to ask. They will already have an additional child to contend with. And if they were identified, we’d risk losing everything we’ve worked so hard for. No, we’ll have to set up separate trips.’
‘Makes sense,’ Hannah said, yawning. ‘I’m exhausted. Let’s get some sleep and decide what to do in the morning.’
Lizzie’s eyelids grew heavy, and soon she drifted into a frantic sleep where she dreamt about Liesel on a train full of Nazis hunting for her, and secret weapons that could obliterate Britain if she didn’t stop them.
Hannah covered her with the blanket, and shortly after, she was asleep as well.
Herr Vogel sat in Frau Fischer’s private parlour smoking his pipe. He turned to his companion. ‘I don’t trust those Alsatian girls,’ he said. ‘There is something about them that doesn’t add up, no matter how good their papers are.’