Page 55 of Echoes of Betrayal

‘I think it was he who tipped Voss off and warned him to keep you under surveillance.’

Lizzie shook her head in disbelief. ‘They played a clever game. I thought after the initial standard surveillance period that they’d backed off. I congratulated myself on being viewed as an unimportant woman and as such able to waltz into the bank vault undetected. And all the while they’ve been watching me.’

‘Voss will have known about the dead drops, and if I had to put money on it, I’d say that’s why the diplomatic pouch never reached London, and the latest one hasn’t turned up here at all.’

‘Pemberton,’ Lizzie sighed. ‘He has access and must have decided it was safer to sabotage the pouch rather than have it arrive in London without the Baker Street package. What do you plan to do about him?’

Tom screwed up his forehead. ‘I’m still deliberating, but I think our best strategy is to get you out of Switzerland as if all is just as it should be, and we don’t know he’s a traitorous toad. Then, once you are safely back in London, you can report him, and I will back you up.’

‘What will happen to him?’ Lizzie said.

‘Well, for starters, his cushy little number in Switzerland will be up. They’ll recall him to London and deal with him there.’

Lizzie sat at her desk in the commercial attaché section for the last time, tidying loose ends and preparing to leave on the train to Basel that afternoon. Tom had offered to drive her, but they agreed that may draw attention to her as if she had something to hide, rather than leaving with her tail between her legs.

Pemberton would expect her to travel as she had come, by train. The less he knew the better until she was safely beyond his and Voss’s reach.

Later that morning, Pemberton made a big show of being sorry to lose her. ‘You’re the best translator I’ve had, and you will be awfully difficult to replace. I hope London will send me someone just as efficient, but that’s highly unlikely, my dear.’

‘It’s been wonderful working with you, sir. I am sorry to have to leave so suddenly, but urgent family matters call, I’m afraid.’

‘Family first for you ladies,’ he said. ‘Just as it should be.’

Lizzie gritted her teeth and smiled at his condescending statement as though she didn’t have the urge to wind him with a sharp blow to the stomach. What a lying, worthless piece of work he was. The Allies were fighting for their lives, losing people every day, and here he was dining on lavish lunches and betraying his country. She hoped he met a horrible, sticky end.

‘Thank you, sir. It’s good of you to be so understanding,’ she said.

Lizzie wondered where he had hidden the ledger copies and was tempted to investigate, but that would prioritise revenge over escape. She must board the train to Basel that afternoon and let Voss and Pemberton both believe they had outwitted her, and she had left the country with nothing to show for all her efforts.

The last vital part of her mission was to smuggle out the camera as a courier from under the conniving pair’s noses and place it in Val’s hands at Baker Street where she would deliver it to Churchill.

Letting the insufferable Pemberton think he had stitched her up without her knowing he was involved would make her revenge far sweeter in the long run. He would imagine she’d look for the copies and have no idea who had stolen them. He must think she and Tom believed the pouch had simply gone astray, and that she had been thwarted in the vault by Voss and had completely failed in her mission. He seemed rather pleased with himself.

Well, Mr Pemberton, enjoy it whilst you may, because your day of retribution is coming.

CHAPTER 47

Lizzie said her goodbyes to the staff and took one last look at the elegant Legation building as the car drew away. Tom accompanied her on the quick trip to the train station, saying they should behave exactly as they did when she arrived. ‘I’ll miss you,’ Tom said as he escorted her to the platform, carrying her small suitcase. ‘It’s been good having a confidante.’

‘I’ll miss you too, Tom. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.’ Then Lizzie drew nearer to his ear and whispered, ‘Let us know if you hear from Angel.’

Tom promised he would. They were both worried about The Lavender Network and still hadn’t received a message from Hannah or Lev. Lizzie kept telling herself they must just be lying low, and it was too dangerous for them to access their radio, but the fear that something terrible had happened sent chills through her whenever she thought of it.

The journey from Bern to Basel was comfortable, and like when she had arrived in February, she admired the farmland and neat buildings from the train window. The fields were now lush green, and the hedgerows were festooned with vibrant flowers bobbing in the breeze. The white peaks of the Alps gleamed in the distance and then faded away.

It wasn’t long before the train rolled into St. Louis in Basel, and Lizzie tensed at the prospect of the imminent border crossing. Stay calm. You did it before, she reminded herself.

Tension gripped her chest, and she breathed deeply before reaching for her suitcase and leaving the train on the heels of two young women and a soldier in Swiss Army uniform.

She had crossed the border before, but not with a spy camera loaded with incriminating film. Dusk was enveloping the sleepy town, and the air turned cool as Lizzie approached the barrier, her heart slamming so fast she felt dizzy.

‘Papers,’ said the smooth Swiss-accented voice of a border guard, stretching out his hand.

Her papers lay ready in her pocket, and she withdrew them immediately and presented them, breathing softly, trying to slow the rapid hammering in her chest.

If he searched her, it would all be over. Even if they let her through because of her Legation status, they would confiscate the camera. Visions of Voss and Pemberton in Bern, somehow realising she and Tom had duped them, assailed her, as she fought to keep her face expressionless and not show the panic that spiralled through her as the guard examined Elizabeth Gale’s papers.

She and Tom had discussed her using a new identity to leave, but it was too short notice, and they decided the benefits of her diplomatic cover outweighed the slight risk Voss would have second thoughts and come after her.