The Golf, Cheese and Chess Society

by Jason Blacker

  “Thank you,” she said. She picked up the notebook and looked at it. “Let me help you with this.”

  She studied it for a little time more. She went over to an empty table and chair that was close to her. She sat down.

  “We’ve used this sort of cipher a lot around here. It’s a fun one to use,” she said. “I see Mr. Turing has started it off. The keys are ‘Lady’ and ‘Frances’.”

  “That’s what he thought,” said Frances.

  Maisey pointed at the note that began with those two words.

  “Quite correct,” said Maisey, “we usually put the keys between hyphens, or in this case we start the sentence with them and then just put the one hyphen at the end.”

  “It’s very clever,” said Declan.

  She looked up at him and smiled. She looked down again and pointed at the encrypted letters.

  “This is what we need to decrypt then, is it?”

  “Yes,” said Frances.

  Maisey started by putting slashes between every two letters. After she was done the encrypted message now looked like this:

  HR/RI/YH/XD/ID/EK/PT/YM/YC/LO/HA/MH/JZ/SB/

  MH/JZ/SP/YH/MB/FS/PN/AZ/GT/EB/AU/IA/KT

  Maisey started to drag her fingers across and up and down the four squares that Turing had drawn earlier. It didn’t take her long. After about five minutes she was done and the decrypted message looked like this.

  GE/RM/AN/YI/NF/IL/TR/AT/ED/BP/HE/KN/OW/SI/

  KN/OW/ST/AN/MI/GH/TB/EW/IT/HG/ER/MA/NS

  Frances, Declan and Alfred looked at the jumbled letters. They looked almost as cryptic as the original note.

  “I can start to make out some words, but it’s still a bit of a puzzle,” said Frances. “I suppose you get used to it.”

  Maisey looked up at her and smiled.

  “Yes, you do. Here, I’ll turn it into a sentence for you. I’m probably faster at it.”

  And almost as quickly as she could write a sentence, Maisey had turned the jumbled letters into a sentence that made sense.

  GERMANY INFILTRATED BP HE KNOWS I KNOW STAN MIGHT BE WITH GERMANS

  “There’s no punctuation of course because there isn’t any in the four squares, but it makes sense now, doesn’t it?” asked Maisey.

  Frances nodded.

  “‘Germany infiltrated BP’,” she said. “That’s obviously Bletchley Park. ‘He knows I know. Stan might be with the Germans.’”

  “Hmm,” said Declan. “That doesn’t appear to be as helpful as I was hoping.”

  He looked at Alfred.

  “It seems she thought that Group Captain Dowd was working with the Germans. According to Brimley that’s not true though, is it?”

  Frances nodded.

  “That’s right, and I have no reason to suspect that on this account Walter is wrong. The problem here seems to be that Walter didn’t have everyone working on the same side. Poor Minnie seemed to think at the end that she might have been aiding the Germans. And that’s just not correct. At least according to Brimley. But perhaps Brimley was not aware that there was a fox in his henhouse.”

  “Well, I’d like to ask Brimley that directly. Perhaps he had lost his Group Captain to the Germans and he didn’t know it. That would explain why the German is now cleaning up this mess. Perhaps he got wise to the double cross within a double cross,” said Declan.

  “A quadruple cross,” said Alfred, only half humorously.

  “I don’t like that at all, Declan. But you’re probably right. Why else would this German spy be concerned with killing everyone involved? It makes sense. Dowd starts giving him real intelligence and he starts to see how he’s the only one of his people who have not been turned into double agents. Fearing that his relationship is precarious, or perhaps Dowd gets greedy, he finds out who else knows about this and decides to put an end to it. That means he is most certainly on his way to Germany. We need to get to him before he gets off our shores or MI5’s double cross is going to be worth nought.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  XXXX

  FRANCES, Declan and Alfred made their way to Hut 10. When they arrived, Frances noticed that Inspector Devlin Pearce was already there. He was with Detective Sergeant George Lavatish whom Lady Marmalade knew quite well.

  “Frances,” said Pearce, genuinely happy to see her. “I didn’t know you were involved with this case.”

  “Nice to see you again, Inspector, though it’s usually under these unpleasant circumstances, isn’t it.”

  Pearce nodded.

  “I’m afraid this case that we’re all involved with seems to be turning into an intelligence debacle,” said Frances.

  Brimley shot her a look.

  “Sergeant,” said Frances, smiling at Lavatish.

  “Happy to see you, ma’am,” he said.

  Declan and Alfred shook hands all round. When they were done, Brimley spoke.

  “Now I know this particular incident doesn’t look good,” he said, “but you’ll forgive me, Frances, if I ask that we keep the inflammatory remarks to ourselves.”

  “Perhaps not so inflammatory if you take a look at the decrypted note.”

  She handed it to Brimley who read it quickly and then gave it back. He shrugged and nodded his head to the side.

  “She’s misinformed,” he said.

  “Do you mind if George and I get up to speed?” asked Pearce. “Brimley said that he’d found Pelagia Paterson strangled to death this morning, though it appears it happened last night or early morning. Before Group Captain Stanley Dowd was shot to death in his flat in London. But what is this note about?”

  “I was up at Avalon at Ambleside this past weekend, Devlin,” she said.

  “I didn’t know,” he replied.

  Frances nodded.

  “It was a last minute trip and no one outside my family knew. In any event, on Sunday morning I get called over to the neighbor’s home. The neighbor is Elmer Nisbet. You know him from visiting me up at the Lake District before.”

  “I do recall. Tall, lanky sheep farmer,” said Pearce.

  Frances nodded.

  “Well, as it happens, one of his boarders, a Minnie Shelford, had just been murdered right in front of him. He’s lately been taking in boarders who are visiting the Lake District as a supplemental source of income.”

  “She was murdered in front of him?” asked Pearce.

  “Yes, that’s how it appears. He was coming from the in-bye where the ewes had lambed and he was heading on up to the fell to check on his other sheep. That’s when he noticed a man, mostly in black, over a woman, and stabbing at her. He called out and the man got up and ran away.”

  “And do we know who he is?” asked Pearce.

  “Félix Delastelle, also known as MI6’s Carlisle Desmont, had been given a ride by this German to the farmhouse from Windermere station…”

  “And you didn’t know who he was?” asked Pearce, looking at Desmont.

  “No, I didn’t. I was there to check on the welfare of Lady Marmalade for His Majesty’s government.”

  Pearce nodded and looked back at Frances.

  “He gave Carlisle the name Edsel Schmidt. Obviously fake.”

  “I see,” said Pearce.

  “This German spy came that very same night for me. If it wasn’t for DCI Milling insisting on posting a bobby at Avalon, and Alfred being there, I might not be here to tell you all of this.”

  Pearce knitted his eyebrow.

  “This is a daring and violent man. How do we know he’s a German?”

  “Carlisle spoke with the man on the trip up to the farm from the station. Walter has since admitted that he’s been running a double cross operation of his own to try and convince his superiors at Box 500 that they haven’t actually turned all German spies in this country.”

  Pearce looked up at Walter. Walter nodded.

  “My superiors were aware of my side operation. They thought they were humoring me, but as it turns out I was right.”

  “Yes, but you’ve lost
three good people and put Lady Marmalade’s life at risk,” said Pearce.

  “And that is why we’re all here. My operation didn’t go as planned. I squarely take responsibility for that. Unfortunately, GC Dowd was an unwise choice. His tongue was too loose and I think that’s what put Minnie and Pelagia in danger.”

  Brimley looked over at Albutt.

  “Additionally, as Lady Marmalade has pointed out, His Majesty’s two secret service agencies aren’t on speaking terms which hasn’t helped at all. In fact, if it wasn’t for Alfred and Cumbria’s constable, the incompetence of MI6’s man might have caused a fourth death.”

  “Now just a minute,” said Albutt, visibly upset.

  Desmont knew that the “MI6’s man” was him but he chose not to get involved.

  “And this Cumbrian constable is still in the hospital in bad shape,” said Frances.

  “If I’d have been informed…” said Brimley.

  “Before we all begin pointing fingers,” said Frances, “we need to work together to find this spy. And we need to do it quickly because I believe he has every intention to leave our shores as soon as he can.”

  “Alright then. Just to be sure that George and I are on the same page, let me review it. Minnie Shelford was stabbed to death in the Lake District on Sunday morning.” He looked at Frances and she nodded. “Pelagia, what’s her last name?”

  “Paterson, with one T,” said Brimley.

  “Thank you. Pelagia Paterson was murdered by strangulation on Tuesday evening or early this morning,” said Pearce.

  “I’d think it was early this morning,” said Brimley. “The coroner will tell us today, I’m sure.”

  “Alright. Let’s say she was murdered early this morning. Then later this morning Group Captain Stanley Dowd is found dead with a gunshot to the chest, and we all think this is at the hand of a German spy. And yet all murders are by different means.”

  “Not to mention Constable Ernest Swales, who I hope makes it through this. He was stabbed as well,” said Frances.

  “Doesn’t change the mechanisms of death,” said Pearce.

  “I agree that it looks unusual,” said Frances, “but we are talking about a German intelligence officer. Possibly with the Schutzstaffel.”

  “How do we know this?” asked Pearce.

  “When Elmer Nisbet came upon him in the act, this spy left his dagger behind and on it were the two lightning bolts and the eagle, the Reichsadler.”

  “Was he limping?” asked Pearce.

  “Nisbet thought he might have had a slight limp, and Alfred took a shot at him that might have caught him.”

  Pearce nodded.

  “It would seem then, that we are seeking the same man. At least for the Dowd and Shelford murders. What about Paterson’s?” he asked.

  Brimley shook his head.

  “We haven’t had anyone come forward to identify a man meeting that description. I have Albert McBurney out interviewing anyone who might have been around the Smalley farm where both Paterson and Shelford lived. I’m telling you that we are looking at the same man for all of these murders. My colleague, Lester Allen, should be up from London any moment bringing with him everything we’ve got about this German including photographs. He’s also bringing up any notes that we have about German spies who are not believed to be on our soil. As you know, MI5 believes that those on our soil have been turned. I don’t believe it, so this man is likely believed to be in Germany still. At least according to my superiors.”

  “And you have photographs of these German spies who are not believed to be on our shores?” asked Pearce.

  “We do, at least of those we know about.”

  “And you have photographs of this German spy that we think has committed these murders?”

  “A couple of photographs. Not the best quality I’m afraid as we were trying to keep our cover secret. But someone should be able to identify him from them,” said Brimley.

  “Like you, Desmont?” asked Pearce.

  Desmont nodded.

  “What about you Alfred? Do you think you might have got a good enough look at him.”

  “Oh yes, I should think so. He pointed a gun at me and shot at me. I ran out after him and hopefully got him with some shot of my own. I think I should be able to identify him if the photographs are good enough.”

  “Why do you think you’re taking over this investigation, Pearce?” asked Albutt. His tone was not friendly. Pearce looked over at him and smiled.

  “We may be at war, Albutt, but we are not yet living under His Majesty’s police state. Two of these murders were committed on civil and not military land. The same can be said for the attempted murder of Constable Swales. As for Pelagia’s murder, you say that was committed close to the farmhouse where she was boarding?” asked Pearce, looking at Brimley.

  Brimley nodded a small little nod. Not really wanting to admit to it.

  “Well then, all three murders so far have been committed on civil land and not on military bases. That clearly makes me the man in charge.”

  They all knew they couldn’t argue with that. Pearce looked around the room for a while at blank faces.

  “Anyone else concerned about my authority in these matters?” he asked.

  “I for one am quite happy to have Scotland Yard in charge,” said Turing. “Seems MI5 and MI6, from what we’ve heard, aren’t quite up to the task.”

  It wasn’t really meant as a slight against the intelligence agencies, but it was a statement of fact. Pearce nodded in agreement.

  “Now you were saying, Brimley, that you had set up this operation to feed this German spy, let’s call him Schmidt, fake information in order to trap him as a spy and prove to your superiors that not all German spies on crown soil were acting as double agents on behalf of His Majesty’s government?”

  “That’s about right.”

  “Then what went wrong?”

  “It’s been too early to really do a deep analysis of what’s gone wrong. But a couple of things immediately come to mind. The first is that Group Captain Dowd might not have been the wisest choice in hindsight.”

  “How so?” asked Pearce.

  “He had a loose tongue that I don’t think I was aware of the extent to which that could damage the case. He also liked to drink, which doesn’t help these sorts of things.”

  “Then why choose him?”

  “Well, he was one of the most senior men in charge here. Surely that meant that he could be trusted. He also insisted that he be the one to do it, and my superiors at Box 500 felt like he was a good candidate to be the liaison.”

  “And what was the second thing that you thought went wrong with this operation?”

  “I should have been more transparent with the girls. I don’t know if that would have prevented their deaths but it might have.”

  “Are you saying Minnie and Pelagia didn’t know what was going on?” asked Pearce.

  “No, they knew that I was conducting a clandestine operation on behalf of MI5 with Dowd, but they knew nothing of the context or anything else for that matter.”

  “Who gave them the documents to leak?”

  “I did. They had to be vetted of course. Albutt helped with that.”

  Pearce looked over at Albutt who nodded at him.

  “You have to understand he had the consent of Box 500,” said Albutt. “Didn’t matter how much I disagreed with it.”

  “Which was very little,” said Brimley.

  “I had more important things to worry about,” said Albutt.

  “Gentlemen,” said Pearce. “Let’s work together. We can determine fault, if any, at a later time.”

  Pearce turned back to look at Brimley.

  “And how did you feel the operation was going?”

  “The last I heard, which would have been on Friday, was that Schmidt was coming around. Dowd didn’t think he needed more than another six weeks or two months at the most,” said Brimley.

  “And that didn’t seem like a long
time?”

  “No, Inspector, it didn’t. This operation had only been ongoing since the beginning of the year. That would have pushed completion to around June or July. Six months is not a long time for an operation of this nature.”

  Pearce looked over at Albutt.

  “I would have to agree with Walt on that count. Sometimes these operations can last years. Six months is not unreasonable. You’re trying to build rapport and trust.”

  “What I’d like to know,” said Brimley, “is why none of these girls came to me. As far as we know, Pelagia didn’t speak to anyone if she had concerns, and Minnie took a reckless trip up to the Lake District to see Lady Marmalade. I should have been the first one they came to.”

  “I think I know the answer to that,” said Frances. “I don’t believe they trusted you.”

  Brimley frowned at her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t mean you specifically, but I don’t think they trusted Group Captain Dowd anymore and I genuinely believe they felt in danger. He might have also insisted that they speak to him directly about any matters related to the case.”

  “But I told them on many occasions that they could come to me with any concerns they might have related to this operation,” said Brimley.

  “I understand that, but who did they see more often? You or Dowd?”

  Brimley nodded his head.

  “Yes, they saw Dowd more often.”

  “That might explain why he had more influence over them,” said Frances.

  Brimley didn’t say anything. Albutt lit a cigar and started smoking it.

  “Inspector,” said Knox, “if you don’t need us, we do have work to do.”

  Pearce looked at him and nodded.

  “Yes, of course. You can let your staff know that we don’t believe there is any ongoing danger to any of them, but do please keep an eye out for any odd behavior or strange people that shouldn’t be around. Let any of us know.”

  “Of course,” said Knox. He and Turing said their farewells and left the hut.

  Pearce waited until they had left before he turned back towards Lady Marmalade.

  “Frances, you said that you thought these women didn’t trust Dowd anymore. Do you have any evidence to that effect?”