By the end of April, things were going well. The unit was approaching a level of competence that Strasser found satisfactory, and he told Lockhart that at this rate, it would not be long before he was allowed to see Anna. Strasser would not say when, despite Lockhart’s insistence; only that it would be soon. Inwardly, Lockhart was delighted too—he was building up a cadre of loyal men, a team that he might be able to put to good use. What he really needed, however, was to hear from “Hattie,” but she had been stubbornly silent.

It was nearly lunchtime, but Brigadier Watkins still had another box file to get through. Marked “Belsize,” it was a collection of the past fortnight’s material sent to the fictitious address in Belsize Park. The box file felt light, almost empty. Good—he would soon be able to get something to eat.

He opened the file and was relieved to see that it contained only one envelope and a small strip of paper, upon which was typed a short message.

IN RENEGADE UNIT BRITISH FREE CORPS IN HILDESHEIM HAVE LEARNT NERVE GAS SARIN HELD IN PLACE STARTING MITT

D/H 315

Watkins knew only too well the identity of D/H 315—Lockhart. So the traitor was alive, was he? Alive and well in Germany, no less! The last he’d heard from Cairo was that the bugger was acting as some sort of German stooge in Crete. There was no way that Watkins was going to believe this tosh. It was so manifestly some Abwehr game that it did not even dignify a response.

He uncapped his fountain pen, his famous Waterman that contained only green ink. On the strip he scribbled:

N.A.R.

He then initialed this with a large “W.” He replaced the strip in its box, shut the box, and put it on top of all the others. No action required, thought Watkins. Lunch was what was required, and straightaway.

JUNE 1941

He hears the news on the radio a few minutes after he wakes up. It is a Sunday morning, and the weather is appropriately fine in Berlin, for it is a happy day, a day that will reaffirm his faith in the Führer, make him realize that he is a genius.

“German forces have invaded Soviet Russia. In the early hours of this morning, the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht launched a massive offensive to rid the Russian people of the Communist tyranny….”

He cheers out loud.

“This calls for a celebration!” he says.

“Does it?” asks Eileen.

“Of course! This is it! The moment we have been waiting for! At last, Communism is being swept away! Don’t you see? This is the beginning of the end!”

With that, he gets out of bed and starts getting dressed.

“Don’t worry about making my breakfast,” he says. “I’m going down to the Foreign Press Club—that’s the place to be this morning.”