Did he know? Did he know it was me who’d figured out his codes, who was using them?

Almost instantly he turned away. I swallowed. Wing Commander Cromwell glanced up.

“Well, girl! Is the old woman ready yet?”

“She’s coming down now,” I said. How was I supposed to address him? I didn’t have any idea. I added, “Sir. The stair takes her a while. She ought to have a comfortable place to sit.”

“Indeed. Kerr, Yorke, get moving,” Cromwell snapped, looking back down.

The wireless operators scrambled to rearrange the furniture, pulling Jane’s chair up to the table next to Cromwell. By the time they finished, Jane had arrived. I hovered at her elbow as she came in, wondering if Cromwell would kick me out when she was seated. Her sticks tapped against the stone floor, and for a moment the only sounds were that tapping and the crackle and hiss of burning peat.

Jane reached her chair and I took the sticks. She braced herself against the armrests and made her terrifying backward plunge into the seat. Jamie and Silver and even one of the German airmen threw themselves forward in alarm to try to support her.

Jane looked up and smiled.

“I am perfectly all right.”

“Pimms Section, attention,” ordered Wing Commander Cromwell, and they all leaped into their stiff lineup in front of the table.

I laid Jane’s sticks on the floor and purposefully planted myself behind her chair, holding my breath. Jane reached for my hand, anchoring me. “I need Louisa here, please,” she said. She raised her arm a little, and our hands stayed firmly clasped over her frail shoulder.

Cromwell looked at Jane, frowning. He looked up at me.

“You were here in November, weren’t you, Miss Adair?” he asked. “One of the hostages?”

I was astonished. I thought he had no idea who I was.

I’d known he was pigheaded and stuck on following rules, but I’d mistakenly also thought he was stupid. I realized now I might be jumping to conclusions, just like everybody did about me.

“Yes, sir,” I said politely.

“All right, I’ll allow it. Make a note, Flight Officer Pennyworth; the girl can take an oath of secrecy along with the rest.”

I was in.

He moved on as if he’d never noticed me in the first place.

“Find out why they’re here,” he said to Jane, and waved his hand at the German prisoners.

Jane leaned forward. She spoke German hesitatingly, as if she were choosing her words with care. She was good at pretending to be an English woman speaking German. An old actress! She tilted her head, favoring her left ear, and waited for a response.