“Calais,” he added, then started hacking again. He held up his right index finger, then used it to reach out and touch Charlie’s nose. The cough then seized him and pulled him back, his body convulsing. Charlie looked at Margaret, now in tears. Warden Denno returned alone, no doctor in sight, and stood by uselessly. As Winston coughed violently, two orderlies ran to his bed and sedated him. It reminded Charlie of a time in France when his men were choking on nerve gas left over from the previous war. He desperately needed a drink.

Escorting Charlie and Margaret from the infirmary to the front gate, the warden asked if they had any idea what Winston was talking about. If it was something that would be helpful to the doctor, Denno said, he could pass it along.

“No clue,” said Charlie. “Though it’s good to hear that somewhere in this complex, there’s an actual physician.”

Embarrassed, Denno grimaced. “He’s usually here by now; he’s just late today.” He cleared his throat, filling the awkward silence with something, anything. “Did he say Pa? Did you call him Pa?”

“Thanks for your time today,” Charlie said, ignoring his question. They reached the front gate, and he shook the warden’s hand with all the politeness he could muster, balancing his disgust with his father’s predicament against the fact that the warden could make it much worse. “Really appreciate your help, Warden.”

Once they were on the highway, Margaret answered Denno’s question. “Pas-de-Calais,” she said.

“That’s my guess too,” Charlie said. He had a flask hidden somewhere. He needed to get at it. Without Margaret seeing.

“What does a northern French state have to do with anything?” she asked.

Charlie frowned and looked in the rearview mirror for police. His foot pressed harder on the gas pedal. Margaret was familiar with this particular brand of silence. This was when he felt he had information he couldn’t share. To Margaret, it was an aggressive silence, almost showing off.

“We are well past keeping secrets here, Charles,” she said.

He sighed; she was right.

“It was called Operation Fortitude,” he said. “Most people still don’t know about it. I didn’t even know about it at the time—I only learned about it on House Oversight.” He looked at her.

“Go on,” she said. “Keep your eyes on the road and keep talking.”

“So part of Fortitude took place in Pas-de-Calais, with the First Army Group,” he continued. He stole a look at her, then wondered if there was a rest stop where he could sneak a drink.

“First Army Group?” she said. “Never heard of them. And I read everything when you were over there.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Charlie said.

“Which was?”

“It didn’t exist,” Charlie said. “Deception campaign. Army even built these things they called Bigbobs. Fake landing craft. Inflatable. Dummy tanks.”