The gingerbread spy, p.26
The Gingerbread Spy, page 26
part #4 of The Black Orchestra Series
“Stop him!” she shouted as he charged outside.
Passing in his wheelchair, Dan stuck his plastered leg in front of the fleeing Dutchman and brought him crashing to the ground.
Lina hit Jan over the head with her bedpan before he could regain his feet. He crumpled to the ground, and Martin, the second porter, put a knee between his shoulder blades, pinning him to the floor.
“He’s a traitor. Hold him. Call the police,” said Lina, before ducking back inside the changing room to put on her uniform.
#
Lina found Kevin in the canteen. Lunchtime was over, but the catering staff assembled a reasonable meal for her from the leftovers in the serving trays.
She was ravenous. As she stuffed food into her mouth, she told Kevin about her encounter with Jan in the nurses’ changing room.
“You hit him with a bedpan?”
“Knocked him out, cold. The porters are holding him until the police can take him to jail.”
He kissed her on the head. “You’re amazing.”
She smiled. “Didn’t you notice that I wasn’t in the flat?”
“Yes, of course I noticed. I thought you were working late.”
“For two nights?”
“After the first day, I thought you’d left me.”
“Leaving all my stuff behind? My clothes, my hats?”
“Tell me how you knew Jan de Groot,” he said.
“I met him here. We had a meal together.”
“You met him in the hospital?”
“At the entrance. We collided. He spoke to me in Dutch.”
“When was this?”
“I don’t know. When you were away.”
“You had a meal together? Is that all you did?”
She blinked. She knew she was a poor liar, but she pressed on. “Yes, of course. We arranged a second date, but he never showed up.”
“I was only away for a couple of weeks.” He looked hurt.
“It was nothing,” she said. “I suspect he broke in and searched the flat while I was waiting for him outside a cinema in Leicester Square. As I said before, he’s a snake.”
He said, “He won’t cause any more mischief.”
Ellis joined them. “I hear the hospital porters have captured Gingerbread, and Constable Brick has taken Pollinger in for questioning. I’ve told the major everything. He wants to see us both in his office first thing in the morning.”
Matron came into the canteen. She hurried over to the table, and stood frowning down at Lina.
“Grant tells me you were tied up in the basement. If you’re fully recovered I’d like you to resume your duties.”
“Yes, Matron.”
“You can’t imagine how difficult it has been without you.” It sounded like an accusation.
“It wasn’t her fault, Matron,” said Kevin. “I hope you don’t think she was on some sort of holiday. Lina was held captive with no food or water for how long?”
“Nearly three days.”
“She was trussed up like a Christmas turkey when we found her.”
Matron grunted. “But you’re ready to go back to work, now, yes?”
“Yes, Matron.”
“Good. Joost needs your help. He’s planning a session with Victor.”
“And he wants me to help?” Lina was amazed. Joost had never asked for her help before.
“He asked for you. Now run along. You don’t want to keep him waiting.” Matron strode from the canteen.
Lina stood up. “See you later, Kevin.”
“Victor who?” said Ellis.
“Colonel Victor Macintyre. He’s seriously disturbed. Our psychologist has been working wonders with him.” She hurried off to Joost’s rooms.
#
Ellis waited until Lina had left the canteen before speaking. “Victor Macintyre was a member of the LCS. He had some sort of breakdown. I replaced him. He would have detailed knowledge of the original deception plan, the original version of Operation Fortitude.” Ellis looked as crestfallen as Kurt had ever seen him.
“But the new version is quite different, isn’t it?”
“I assume so. I was never informed about the old one. We need to check out this psychologist, Joost whatshisname. Psychologists use hypnosis, don’t they?”
“Yes, I’m sure they do.”
“There was something else the major said. Gingerbread has been transmitting again. The RDF units picked up a long signal sent from somewhere near Croydon this afternoon.”
“Have the boffins deciphered it yet?”
“They’re working on it. But I’m very much afraid we may have a serious problem. I don’t remember much about yesterday. I remember following Jan. He must have led me here. I believe I may have been hypnotised and I could have given the whole game away. I remember a fob watch swinging on a chain.”
“You don’t know that,” said Kurt. “Let’s wait and see what Gingerbread has told his masters.”
The revelation made Kurt weak at the knees. Since he joined the LCS, Ellis was fully briefed on Operation Fortitude. What he could have said under hypnosis didn’t bear thinking about.
They asked for directions to Joost’s rooms on the ground floor. Kurt tried the door. It was locked.
“How do you want to handle this?” said Ellis.
“We smash the door in,” Kurt replied.
Ellis put his shoulder to the door, and they burst in.
Chapter 76
The scene that greeted Kurt looked no different to any doctor’s consulting rooms. An elderly patient sat with Nurse Lina facing the psychologist.
What took the breath from Kurt’s lungs was the sight of the psychologist. It was Pieter Hendriks, the first cleaner from the house in Perrymead Street.
Pieter Hendriks/Joost van Dijk got to his feet. He waved his arms about. “What is the meaning of this intrusion? Can’t you see I’m with a patient? Get out and close the door.”
The psychologist had a wild look about him, his eyes blazing, his mouth a thin line. It was a look that Kurt had seen before, the look of a man backed into a corner, facing impossible odds, but determined to stand his ground – the look of a Nazi fanatic, married to his credo.
Kurt snarled at him, “The game is over, Doctor, if you really are a doctor.”
“I am a clinical psychologist, of course. Now get out of my consulting rooms, both of you.”
Lina leapt up and stood beside him. “Kevin, what do you mean? Doctor van Dijk is a legend in this hospital. He has worked miracles on his patients.” She looked confused.
Van Dijk patted her on the shoulder. “Thank you, Lina.”
Victor Macintyre was on his feet then, yelling, “We are under attack. Prepare to repel boarders!”
Lina went to him, took him by the arm and spoke to him in calming tones.
Ellis stood facing the psychologist, fists clenched. “You are Dutch. Tell me why you and Jan de Groot targeted Queen Wilhelmina. How could you guide the German bombers to our beloved queen?”
Joost curled a lip. “The Dutch monarchy is doomed. They are decadent, a burden on the people of the Netherlands.”
“I love them,” said Lina. “They are loved by millions.”
“They are irrelevant, Lina. The new order will sweep them away.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” said Ellis. “It’s you and your Nazi friends who will be swept away.” He lunged at van Dijk, but Kurt hauled him back.
Kurt said, “What were you hoping to gain by taking a position with Home Facilities?”
“I’ve no idea what you mean,” said van Dijk.
“Using the false name Pieter Hendriks, you took a job as a cleaner. You cannot deny it.”
“You’re out of your mind,” said the psychologist. “Why would I take a job as a cleaner?”
“To gather information for the Third Reich!”
Ellis said, “You extracted highly secret information from me under hypnosis.”
“That’s nonsense,” van Dijk retorted. “Can you prove it?”
Kurt said, “You extracted information from your patients. For that alone you are guilty of serious medical misconduct. And once we find your transmitter, we will be able to prove everything. You are a German spy.”
A twisted smile spread over the psychologist’s face. “I owe a lot to Victor, here. He gave me all the intelligence he had, but I knew it wasn’t enough.”
Victor’s face turned bright red. Lina held on tight to his arm to keep him anchored to his chair.
“So you abducted an Abwehr agent from the Double Cross programme. You interrogated him.”
“Schumann wasted a lot of our time.”
Lina said, “Who’s Schumann? Is he one of our patients?”
Her question remained unanswered.
“Schumann knows nothing,” said Kurt. “You killed a guard and an innocent cook for no benefit.”
Van Dijk said, “You must blame Jan de Groot for that.” His first half-admission of guilt.
“I don’t think so. Jan wouldn’t have gained access. Dennison knew you from his time as a patient in this hospital. He must have let you in. You slaughtered him in cold blood.”
Van Dijk said nothing.
“Did you have to kill the cook, Mrs Pettigrew?”
The psychologist grabbed Lina’s arm and pulled her to him. A knife appeared in his hand.
“Let her go, Hendriks or van Dijk, or whatever your name is,” said Kurt. “The game’s up. Put away the knife and give yourself up.”
Joost smiled his crooked smile again. “The British can do nothing to me, Kurt. My work here is done. The intelligence I have sent to Berlin today will ensure the failure of the invasion, and will result in the fall of the corrupt organization that is the Abwehr.”
Kurt feared the truth of what the SD spy was saying. Operation Fortitude was irreparably damaged, the upcoming invasion of Europe would be a disaster for the Allies. And the intelligence coup would give Schellenberg all the ammunition he needed to destroy his enemies and take control over the Abwehr. The Black Orchestra would cease to exist as a resistance unit within the Abwehr.
“Who’s Kurt?” said Lina.
Van Dijk pulled Lina closer to him. He put an arm across her shoulders and held the point of the knife at the side of her neck. “Now stand away from the door. Lina and I are leaving.”
Kurt stepped aside, but Ellis stood his ground.
“You are under arrest for two murders,” said Ellis. “Drop the weapon. Let the nurse go.”
Van Dijk glared at him. “You cannot stop me, Els. If you lay a finger on me, I swear I will slit her throat.”
It was clear that he meant what he said. A spot of blood appeared on Lina’s neck.
Kurt placed a hand on Ellis’s chest and pushed him to the side. “Let him go, Greg.”
As soon as van Dijk reached his car in the car park, he released Lina. She struck him once on the upper arm with a closed fist before he got into the car. Van Dijk barely noticed the blow, but her courage lifted Kurt’s spirits.
Dan the porter wrote down the registration number of the car, and pushed his wheelchair to Matron’s office to alert Scotland Yard.
Kurt ran to Lina as the car drove away, but Ellis got there first. She was shaking. He held her tight, then walked her back inside the hospital, talking to her in Dutch.
“You were very brave,” said Ellis, stepping away from Lina to allow Kurt to take over.
She shook her head. “What on earth was that all about? Joost really is a wonderful psychologist. You wouldn’t believe the amazing results he has had with shell-shocked patients.”
“He is a German spy,” said Kurt gently. “He fooled everyone.”
“He was always so kind to me. I will miss him. But he hates our queen. How is that possible for a Dutchman?”
Ellis said, “He’s a Nazi, a member of the NSB. They have no respect for anyone; no sympathy for any philosophy except their own twisted ideology.”
Kurt said, “Forget about him, Lina. The police will catch him soon enough.”
A junior doctor tended to the wound in Lina’s neck. It required nothing more than a touch of iodine and a Band-Aid.
Chapter 77
“Who was that man? Ellis, was that his name?” Lina asked Kevin when they were back in their flat.
“Greg Ellis. He also calls himself Gregor Els. He’s a colleague of mine. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. Did you see his dinky red car?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “I’ve even been for a spin in it.”
“What will they do with Joost when they catch him?”
“He’ll be taken to a secure facility for interrogation by British Intelligence.”
“And then what?”
“That depends on how well the interrogation goes.”
“You mean he could be executed?”
“Yes, Lina, he may be executed. He is a German spy, after all, and he killed two innocent people.”
Lina chopped up some vegetables and tossed them into a pot on the gas ring. She needed to keep her hands busy to stop them from shaking.
“I’ve been thinking, Lina…”
“Me too,” she said. “All the time I was tied up in the dark in the basement, I could think of nothing but you and me. We’ve been good together, we’ve had fun and we’ve had our ups and downs. On balance, I have no regrets, but we were never really a couple.”
She paused for a reaction. He said nothing.
“I mean, couples build their lives together. They get married and have children. Those were never options for us.”
She looked at him again, but the blank expression on his face told her nothing. “What were you going to say?”
“It’s not important. Carry on.”
She sliced a carrot and added it to the pot. Then she took a deep breath and told him. “I finally came to the conclusion that we should split up. I know what you’re going to say, but time has run out on us. We have to face the fact that we have no future together. You belong with Gudrun and nobody else.”
Still, he said nothing. The silence stretched like an abyss between them.
“Say something, Kevin, please,” she whispered.
“You know I’m very fond of you, but you’re right – Gudrun has my heart. I’d hate for us to split up, but if that’s really what you want…”
“It is. Let’s be honest, I know nothing about you. Nothing. Can I believe anything you told me about your past? And you’ve told me nothing about your work. Are you really an Irishman? It seems I don’t even know your real name.”
“Your vegetables are burning,” he said.
Chapter 78
Saturday March 18, 1944
The following morning, Kurt and Ellis presented themselves to Major Robertson in his Bedford Street office.
“Congratulations are in order,” said the major. “That was a splendid outcome all round. Gingerbread didn’t get far. The police stopped his car on the A41 near St Albans. He and his sidekick are both behind bars.”
Kurt was taken aback by the major’s upbeat manner.
Ellis gave voice to Kurt’s thoughts. “Don’t we have a crisis on our hands, sir? Hasn’t Operation Fortitude been torpedoed by Gingerbread’s last transmission?”
“Yes, of course, the operation has been holed well below the waterline.” The frozen smile on the major’s face was more menace than mirth. “You must explain to me later how you managed to allow an enemy agent to interrogate you under hypnosis.”
Ellis’s eye flashed around the room before settling on his boots.
Kurt said, “And what about the SD? Have we not given the Nazis the ammunition they need to get rid of General von Neumann and take over the Abwehr completely?”
“Yes, so it would seem. But nil desperandum, gentlemen. We have the means to repair the damage and refloat the good ship Fortitude.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Your new friend, Herr Schellenberg, is expecting you to send him a list of Abwehr double agents, is he not?” He handed a file across the desk to Kurt. “We mustn’t disappoint him. In this file you will find a list of the call-signs of the Abwehr double agents in London.”
“All of them?” said Kurt.
“No, not all of them. What you have there is the call-signs of 25 carefully chosen agents. I would like you to transmit the list to Herr Schellenberg, using your new call-sign. What was it, again?”
“KPS – Rattlesnake.” Kurt examined the signal. He found Arnold’s call-sign. The last call-sign on the list was LBK – Gingerbread. “Schellenberg is unlikely to believe this list.”
“Perhaps, but it will place a doubt in his mind.”
“He may simply ignore the signal,” said Kurt.
“I’ve thought of that. You did say that Schellenberg expects you to send the list to the Abwehr 24 hours after you’ve sent it to him?”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you do that, he will not be able to ignore the signal or to hide it from his superiors, since the Abwehr will pass it up the line of command. Any and all intelligence previously sent by Gingerbread will be discredited, and any move that Schellenberg makes on the Abwehr will be easily repulsed.”
Kurt nodded enthusiastically. “That could work. But I’m going to need a transmitter and a copy of Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.”
Kurt was dismissed. Ellis remained behind to explain his hypnosis episode.
#
Back at the flat, Kurt found a note from Lina.
I have a few days off. I’ll be staying overnight with my friend Kathy. I’d like you out of the flat by Tuesday. I’ve started packing your things. You’ll find a suitcase in the bedroom.
Lina xx
Short and to the point! He thought the two kisses were an ironic addition. So Kathy was a friend now?
How was he going to move out by Tuesday? He hadn’t the first clue where could he go.
Chapter 79
Sunday March 19, 1944
RSHA PrinzAbrecht Strasse 8, Berlin
Walter Schellenberg checked his appearance in the mirror. He was usually happy to put on his SS uniform for his meetings with the Reichsführer-SS, but not today. Today, he faced Himmler’s wrath, and possibly the end of his career. He straightened his tie, moistened a finger and ran it over the iron cross hanging from his breast pocket.
