The 9 by Madalyn Morgan (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

home with me. Only three people work in the annexe: Mr Silcott, Miss King and myself – and only we three have keys to the door. The last one out at night locks up. The first one in in the morning opens up.’

On the edge of peripheral vision, Ena saw the man on her left shift in his chair. ‘Let’s go back to this morning,’ the man sitting opposite said. ‘What happened next?’

Ena’s mouth was dry. She licked her lips. ‘Mr Silcott put the box containing my work in the suitcase and we left the factory. He then put the case in his car and Miss King drove us to the railway station in Rugby.’

‘Did Mr Silcott put the case in the boot of the car?’

‘No, on the back seat, next to me.’ There was a knock at the door and Tilly entered. Ena was relieved to see the kind Wren and pleased when she placed a cup of tea in front of her. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. She took a sip. It was just the right temperature and she gulped it down. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, rubbing the back of her hand across her mouth. ‘I didn’t realise how thirsty I was.’ She felt her cheeks redden and cleared her throat again.

‘Why did you travel by train today? Doesn’t the factory owner drive to Bletchley?’

‘Yes, but we didn’t have enough petrol. Mr Silcott tried all the garages in the area but he could only get a gallon, which wasn’t enough petrol for a return journey to Bletchley. So, as Miss King had work to take to a facility in Leicestershire, he thought it best that she took the car and we travelled by train.’

The man consulted a second book that looked like a ledger. ‘It says here that the MoD supplies Silcott’s Engineering with petrol coupons every week.’

‘They do. But none arrived this week.’ The man made a note, and nodded for Ena to carry on. ‘It had been drizzling earlier, but it was raining hard by the time we arrived at the station – and it was windy. Mr Silcott stopped to get the tickets and I walked across to the platform with the case. When I got to the train, I looked back to see where he was. The first time he was in the queue, but the next time I looked I couldn’t see him. Then I spotted him coming out of the Gentleman’s lavatory. The train was about to leave, so the porter opened the door for me and I boarded with the case. Mr Silcott, coming from the direction of the Gents’, ran to the nearest door, which was at the other end of the carriage.’

The man’s eyes darted from Ena to the officer sitting next to her and back again. ‘Go on.’

Ena’s stomach lurched. She felt as if she was going to be sick and swallowed hard. ‘As I said, the rain had turned into a storm and it was really windy. When Mr Silcott ran across the platform he had his head down and he was holding onto his hat.’ Ena demonstrated with her own hand. ‘I didn’t see his face. He had his arm up, and I didn’t see his face.’ Ena’s mouth fell open as the realisation hit her. ‘His coat and hat were identical to Mr Silcott’s, so I assumed it was him, but--’ A wave of foreboding washed over her. She looked up at the intelligence officer who had been asking the questions. ‘I don’t think it was Mr Silcott who boarded the train. And if it wasn’t him, who was it?’

The intelligence officer sitting next to Ena wrote frantically on his notepad. ‘Oh my God!’ Ena cried. ‘If it wasn’t Mr Silcott, what’s happened to him? Where is he if he isn’t here?’ Ena jumped up. ‘I’ve got to see Commander Dalton, tell him and ask him to telephone the factory. Find out if Mr Silcott’s there, if he’s all right.’

‘Sit down, Miss Dudley,’ the first intelligence officer said.

‘But you don’t understand.’

‘I said, sit down!’

Ena fell into her chair, shocked at the way the officer had shouted at her. She looked at the telephone in the middle of the table and whispered, ‘Could I telephone the factory in Lowarth?’ The intelligence officer ignored her. ‘I just need to know Mr Silcott’s all right.’

‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible.’ Ena looked at him, her eyes blazing. ‘I understand how you must be feeling, Miss Dudley,’ the intelligence officer said, ‘And in due course you will be able to use the telephone. But it is very important that we know everything about the journey, who you met on the train, how you arrived at Bletchley. So please, just answer the questions.’

Ena looked down and nodded. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, ‘of course.’

‘Tell me what happened on the train.’

‘As I said, the man I thought was Mr Silcott boarded the train by a door at the opposite end of the carriage, so I went to join him – Mr Silcott that is, not the man.’ Ena stopped speaking with shuddering breath and began to cry again. ‘What if he’s lying hurt somewhere? Please won’t you ask someone to telephone to make sure he’s all right?’

‘The sooner you tell us everything that happened on the train the sooner you’ll be able to telephone yourself, Miss Dudley.’

Ena shook her head in disbelief. ‘I went into the compartment and there was a man in it. It wasn’t Mr Silcott. I asked him if a man had entered the compartment at Rugby, and he said no. I asked him if he was sure and he said, or at least he implied, that he hadn’t seen anyone fitting Mr Silcott’s description before or after Rugby, which I took to mean he had boarded the train at one of the stations between Birmingham and Rugby. I