Gilbey turned to his two agents at the end of the table. ‘We’ve not got anywhere on that, have we, Prince?’

‘No, sir, we haven’t. With the help of Mr Harper and Bartholomew, we’ve been watching the gallery and keeping an eye on Bourne and Ridgeway, but so far nothing.’

‘And nor did a thorough look at their various bank accounts turn anything up, other than evidence of a higher-than-normal incidence of cash transactions’ said Harper. ‘We’ve got telephone-tapping and mail-opening warrants, but no joy there either.’

‘Well perhaps it was a long shot anyway,’ said Gilbey. ‘Let’s concentrate on Austria, eh?’

‘I think that would be a mistake.’

‘I beg your pardon, Roly?’

‘I think it would be a mistake to concentrate on Austria and forget about this end of things. Remember, I’m the one who went into the gallery: I’ve met both Bourne and Ridgeway, and the woman too. There’s little doubt in my mind that there’s something fishy going on there, and we know for a fact that they were the ones who sent Charles Falmer over to Frankfurt with all that money, which was almost certainly for the Kestrel Line. We simply cannot afford to ignore that.’

‘So your point is…’

‘My point is we should still watch the gallery: it may give us a lead to the Kestrel Line and thus to Bormann. Do remember, the woman in Bourne’s office admitted they were providing funds and said that there are people in this country they wish to send on the same route too – that was the phrase she used, if I recall correctly.’

Hugh Harper said he could still have Bartholomew watch the gallery, but Prince said he foresaw a problem with that.

‘From everything Sir Roland has said, I’m sure the woman at the gallery was the same one I saw in Gerrards Cross and at the pub. My instinct is she’s probably more important than Bourne and Ridgeway. But I’m the only one who can identify her.’

‘And you can hardly be both here and in Austria.’

‘Not at the same time Mr Gilbey, no.’

‘In that case’ said Gilbey ‘perhaps the best thing would be for Hanne to go over to Austria and Prince to stay here? That way we could cover both bases.’

Chapter 19

Austria, November 1945

‘This really isn’t a matter for discussion, Wilf – it’s an order. It came from the War Office in London to Eighth Army headquarters, and from there to me, and now I’m passing it on to you. I would add that as orders from London go, this one is notably unambiguous. Is there any part of it you’re unclear about?’

Wilf Hart rolled his eyes and replied in a resigned manner. ‘The woman flies into Klagenfurt later this afternoon and I’m to escort her back to Villach, where I’m to afford her every assistance in an operation I’ve yet to be told about.’

Major Laurie Stewart leaned back in his chair, contemplating not for the first time whether he should replace the man sitting in front of him. Stewart commanded the British Army’s Field Security Sections in Carinthia in southern Austria, and Captain Wilf Hart ran the FSS unit in Villach. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was actually very efficient and spoke good German, he’d certainly move him elsewhere. Hart was somewhat older than his commanding officer, and Stewart had long detected a degree of resentment from him. He was now detecting that resentment over the orders he’d just been given.