Page 132 of Strangers in Time

Bryant said, “It was. But Imogen could be a very formidable opponent in her own right. We all attended Oxford together. In fact, Imogen was in the first class of women to be awarded a degree from there. We would hold informal debates at university, the ladies against the gents. Imogen regularly wiped the floor with us. Right, old man?”

Oliver smiled weakly and said, “Yes, quite regularly in fact. She used these skills to convince Cedric and others that I had been working with her all along. We met with them and they became convinced of my loyalty, because Imogen knew exactly what she and I needed to say to make them feel that way. You see, she had read the Germans like a book, just like she read all other books. So I began ‘working’ for them, too.”

Bryant said, “But the difference was that Imogen also came to me and explained the whole plan.”

“Including what she had done previously?” said Molly.

“Thewholeplan, Molly,” interjected Oliver. “The last thing Imogen was trying to do was avoid the consequences of her earlier actions. She just wanted to make things as right as possible by now workingforher country.”

“Why’d she change her mind?” asked Charlie.

“I actually think it might have had something to do with me,” said Oliver thoughtfully. He touched his arm where it had been burned. “As an air warden I very nearly died one night. I remember her sitting beside my bed in hospital while I recovered. Just holding my hand and saying how sorry she was. And when I was finally able to return home, she told me the truth. I can’t begin to imagine how much courage it took for her to do that.”

“You really must have been quite stunned,” said Molly.

“I was many things, Molly, and, yes, that was one of them. So working with Major Bryant here, we regularly fed false information to Cedric and he, in turn, communicated that to Germany. And Cedric would bring me and Imogen false intelligence with the understanding that we would pass it on to Major Bryant, who he knew we were close with. Which we did, but we also told him it was rubbish, of course. And we continued to disclose to the major all we knew about Cedric and his operation. After Imogen… died, I kept ‘working’ with them on my own.”

“We knew something was up before tonight,” said Molly.

Oliver shot her a puzzled look. “How could you possibly?”

Charlie said, “Like I told you, I saw that bloke, Cedric, here late that night when I come ’round. He gave you some papers. And when you come to my flat the next day I followed you, saw you meet with Cedric at his place. When you come out you had some papers you was puttin’ in your pocket.”

Molly added, “And very late at night we saw you slip an envelope in his letterbox when you were wearing your air warden uniform.”

“My God,” said a shocked Oliver.

Charlie added, “And I got into his place and found the book with the pages cut out, and this machine what looked like a typewriter, but ain’t.”

An amazed Bryant said, “It’s the device the Nazis use to send encrypted messages via radio signals.” He paused and smiled. “Blimey, if you were both a bit older we might just enlist you for MI5.”

Molly said, “We didn’t know what to do. But we couldn’t believe you were involved in anything bad. Or if so it was against your will.”

“Well, thank you for that. And I used the books with the pages cut out to hide secret documents,” said Oliver.

“I found one of ’em in Cedric’s flat,” said Charlie. “Con-sway-low.”

“Yes,Consuelo, by George Sand.” Oliver looked at Molly. “You were staring quite hard atJacquesthat night. I wondered about that, though I never dreamed you two had penetrated my secret so deeply.”

“I had looked inside it when I was searching for you that day. Charlie had told me aboutConsuelo. And the pages were also cut out ofJacques.”

“It grieved me enormously to desecrate books like that,” said Oliver in a depressed tone.

“And Imogen?” said Molly. “Her death?”

Oliver looked at her. “She got me firmly established as a spy in my own right. And then told me she was going to Bristol. Instead she went to Cornwall and ended her own life.”

“Why do you think she did that?” asked Molly.

“’Cause she couldn’t live with what she done,” said Charlie, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Yes, Charlie,” said Oliver earnestly. “I believe you are quite right about that.”

“But you let Cedric go tonight,” said Molly. “Why?”

“We let him go onlyafterhe saw Ignatiusdie,” said Bryant. “And we made it seem that it was simply the police that had seen them with children, and suspected the worst. That way he will believe that Ignatius’s status as a spy remains unknown. And he will tell his handlers in Germany that the intelligence just provided is perfectly good to use. But the intelligence won’t help Germany at all. In fact, we hope it will lead to one of the worst defeats the Nazis will suffer in this war and hasten its end. And when it’s time to pick up Cedric, we will. As I said, a short leash. He will not escape. His life will end on the gallows.”

“But how did you manage to show up so quickly tonight?” said Molly.

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