Polly would have to ask them herself and then ask Mr. Dunworthy. If he remembered. And even if he did, it wouldn’t prove anything. The proof lay with Sir Godfrey. He had said she’d saved his life, but he’d been in shock from loss of blood and confused from the gas …

“Eileen,” Polly said. “I must see Sir Godfrey. I need you to go find out what room he’s in. And fetch me my clothes,” she added and then remembered they consisted of a bloodied bathing suit and one gilt high-heeled shoe. “Where’s your coat?”

“I ran out without it when I found out you—”

“See if there’s a robe in the cabinet there.”

Eileen opened the cabinet and the drawers of the nightstand. “There’s no robe. I can bring you one when I come back this afternoon.”

“That’s not soon enough,” Polly said. “I must ask Sir Godfrey something. It’s urgent. You must go find me a robe and find out what room he’s in, and then we need a diversion.”

“A diversion? I can’t—”

“Not you. Alf and Binnie,” Polly said. “And if I’m right, it’s only fitting that they do this.”

“Fitting?”

“Yes. Do you remember when you said Alf and Binnie could defeat Hitler all on their own?”

Eileen nodded.

“Well, you may have been right.”

“But how can they create a diversion if children aren’t allowed in the wards?” Eileen began, and then sighed. “You’re right. They’re the ones for the job. What do you want them to do?”

“I’ll leave that to them,” Polly said. “They’re the experts. Tell them I’ll need a clear shot at the stairwell and the corridor outside Sir Godfrey’s room. And don’t forget the robe.”

“I won’t, if you’ll promise to rest till I come back.”

“I will,” Polly lied.

There wasn’t time to rest. There were too many pieces to fit into the puzzle, too many clues to decipher. Mike had saved Hardy, and Hardy had rescued five hundred and nineteen soldiers, and the patient with gangrene that she and the other FANYs had driven to Orpington from Dover had said he’d been rescued from Dunkirk by someone who’d been rescued himself. “You saved my life,” he’d told Polly. “I’d have been a goner without you.” And Hardy had told Mike the same thing.

Mike had thought the slippage had been trying to keep him from affecting the evacuation of Dunkirk and had somehow failed. But what if he’d been sent through at Saltram-on-Sea because the Lady Jane was there? What if it had purposely sent him there after the bus and Mr. Powney had gone so he—

Binnie ran in carrying a scarlet kimono. “ ’Ere.” She dumped it unceremoniously on the bed. “ ’E’s one flight up.”

“In which ward?”

“ ’E ain’t in a ward. ’E’s got a private room. Last one on the right,” Binnie said, and raced out again.

The kimono had a large golden dragon embroidered on the back. I should have specified an inconspicuous robe, Polly thought, hastily putting the kimono on. She pulled the bedclothes up to her neck and then lay still, listening.