Patton and Ruthie watched as Nemo took a coil of rope and tossed one end over a rafter about fifteen feet overhead. He took the other end and slid under the rear of the Mini. Thirty seconds later he was back on his feet and working with the other end of the rope. Patton realized what he was doing before Ruthie did, and felt her stomach once more trying to revolt. Luckily, she hadn’t eaten anything in nearly twelve hours. Forcing a car off the road in the heat of a pursuit in order to save one’s own skin was one thing, but this was different. They could have left Erich to be discovered by the authorities, but this was cold-blooded and calculated. In the excitement of trying to break the Enigma Code, she had forgotten, at a gut level at least, exactly what Nemo was.

When she saw Nemo slip a noose over Erich’s head, the penny dropped for Ruthie. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Are you going to . . .”

“I’m going to motivate him,” said Nemo. “Nothing more, nothing less.” He slipped into the driver’s seat and turned on the engine, pulling the Mini just far enough outside the barn to take most of the slack out of the rope. Erich did not react to any of Nemo’s actions, and Patton wondered if he was still in shock from the accident and didn’t understand what was happening.

Nemo put the car in neutral and pulled up the emergency brake, but left the engine running. He stepped back into the barn, but instead of approaching Erich he walked deliberately up to Ruthie, standing almost nose to nose with her as she cowered next to Patton.

“Get in the driver’s seat,” he said quietly.

“I can’t,” said Ruthie. “I couldn’t.”

“It’s your car,” said Nemo. “Get in the driver’s seat.” There was a slight menace in his voice and Patton stepped in front of him, taking Ruthie’s hand.

“Leave her alone,” said Patton firmly, pulling Ruthie toward her.

“You are thinking with some part of your anatomy other than your head,” said Nemo. “I need to chat with Erich; she needs to get in the car.”

“I’ll do it,” said Patton. “I owe Erich. But just leave Ruthie out of this.” She squeezed Ruthie’s hand gently and felt a squeeze back.

“You want to do it?” said Nemo.

“I don’t want to,” said Patton, “but if I have to I will. She won’t and she doesn’t have to.”

“Which is exactly why it should be her. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a total stranger. She has no loyalty to us, or at least not to me. It’s safer for us if she’s involved.”

“A loyalty test?” said Patton. “Isn’t that a little cliché?”