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

were only drugged. These people can be dangerous.’ Only half taking in what the commander was saying, Ena nodded mechanically. ‘I’m sorry we had to interrogate you, but I’m sure you understand why it was necessary.’

Still thinking about Mr Silcott, Ena nodded again.

The commander pushed back his chair and stood up.

Ena took his cue. Then, realising what he had just said made her heckles rise. ‘What do you mean, if what I say is true? Of course it’s true.’ The commander’s eyes narrowed, but Ena was not going to be intimidated. ‘What is it? What is it that I have told you that you don’t believe?’

‘Pear drops! The man in the compartment knew you had pear drops in your handbag. How could he possibly have known that?’

‘I told the intelligence officers. He said he remembered me from the last time he travelled on the 9:45 train.’

‘And that was--?’

‘November 15th 1940.’

‘You seem very sure of the date?’ he said, a touch of sarcasm in the commander’s voice.

‘I am. Coventry, the nearest city to Lowarth, was blitzed to smithereens the night before. Mr Silcott had to go to see his in-laws, so I came down to Bletchley with Freda King. It was my first time.’

‘Of course.’ The commander took a file from the middle of the pile and began reading. ‘He went to see how badly the Williams Engineering factory had been damaged, is that right?’

‘Yes. Williams Engineering is owned by Mr Silcott’s in-laws. It is, was, our parent company. It’s so long ago now,’ Ena blustered, ‘I can’t remember the exact details.’ The commander nodded slowly. ‘Anyway, it was the day after the bombing that I accompanied Miss King to Bletchley. We travelled down by train and we sucked pear drops during the journey. I always do. I get travel sick and the pear drops…’ Exhausted, Ena stopped speaking. ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’

The commander looked at her for a long minute. ‘Someone must have told the man in your compartment – if it was him who stole the work – what you were carrying and where you were taking it. That same someone must have told him you had pear drops in your handbag.’ Ena was beginning to see what the commander was getting at. ‘And the man had to have been given this information well in advance of your journey, because you cannot buy drugs that put a person to sleep in the local newsagent’s. Do you understand what I’m saying, Miss Dudley?’ Ena nodded. ‘So, if it was not you who told him, who was it?’

In shock, Ena slumped against the backrest of the chair. ‘I don’t know,’ she said at last. ‘But I don’t believe it was anyone at Silcott Engineering.’ She looked sternly into the commander’s eyes. She wasn’t having him accuse her or her workmates of betraying the country. ‘Have you considered that it might have been someone at Bletchley?’ she asked. ‘I suck pear drops when I’m here, and I offer them round. It could be any one of a dozen people.’

The commander’s face turned scarlet and his eyebrows knitted together in a dark frown. For a second, Ena thought he was going to explode. Instead he leant his elbows on his desk, made a steeple of his fingers, and said, ‘Go to reception, Miss Dudley, I shall arrange for a car to take you to the station.’

‘I’d rather walk, thank you.’ Ena got to her feet and looked around the room. Her belongings were on a chair by the door. Walking over to them, she could feel the commander’s eyes boring into her back. She put her coat on as quickly as she could, swung her gasmask over her shoulder, and grabbed her handbag. She turned to face the commander. He was staring at her. He probably hadn’t taken his eyes off her since he had told her to go.

‘Goodbye,’ she said, turned and opened the door. He didn’t reply.

Closing the door behind her, Ena took a couple of faltering steps. She reached out for the window ledge, to stop herself from falling, and looked through tears of anger at the lake.

She wanted to scream with the injustice of it, the unfairness, especially from Commander Dalton who had blindly assumed it was her, or someone from Silcott Engineering, betraying the country. Ena clenched her teeth. She had known most of the women for years. They were ordinary wives and mothers working to keep a roof over their heads so there was somewhere for their husbands and sons to come home to. They wouldn’t risk losing their jobs, they couldn’t afford to. Then the reality of what would happen if Commander Dalton took the contract of work away from Silcott Engineering hit her.

Worried that the merest doubt about security at Silcott’s would cost the women their jobs, Ena turned back to the commander’s door, knocked, and went in. ‘Forgive me for barging in like this, sir, but I need to explain something.’ He reached for the telephone. ‘Before you have me thrown out, would you please give me five minutes of your time?’

He looked at his watch. ‘Five minutes!’

‘Thank you. Firstly, I did not know the man on the train. I had nothing to do with the theft of my work, nor did anyone else at Silcott’s.’ Trying to ignore the look of fury on Dalton’s face, she said quickly, ‘Secondly, I am asking you not to take work away from Silcott Engineering. The workforce, mainly women whose husbands are overseas fighting for our country, depend on the money they earn at the factory to pay the rent, bills, and to feed and clothe their children.’ Dalton made a show of looking at his watch. ‘But it isn’t only for them that I’m asking, it’s also for me. I know you think I was somehow involved in the sabotage of my work,