“Stein had been spotted in a small town south of Brussels called Beersel, lingering about its train station. That was where I found him, talking to soldiers and other men. What impressed me the most, however, was the massive train parked on the tracks. It was the sort of train that carried hundreds of men and pieces of artillery. He seemed to be there for it.
“I followed Stein for a few days, hoping he would also lead me to the Count but he kept to himself mostly and seemed only interested in the train. I headed back to Brussels to see if my partner had found anything. He said he had a possible lead, an officer he had met at the club who knew of a Count, and that he would be out of touch for a day or two in order to follow it. I contacted Luc to ask him if he knew anything about the German train I had seen. That is when he introduced me to Albert.
“Albert, along with his sister and mother, had set up a train watching unit in the small town of Libremont. I visited them and was told of the strange train activity that they had started seeing the past week. I realised there was a connection between the Iron Shadow and what they had been seeing, but I could not say what.”
“I can tell you. I’m afraid the trains were a feint. They were empty, all of them.”
“They… I see.” He hung his head for a moment. “Anyway, Albert introduced me to the Countess of Libremont, a lovely and kind woman. I spent a few afternoons chatting with her about almost anything, from our life in Canterbury and around the world to the Iron Shadow. When I went back to Brussels, she would send me information on the passing of trains through a code we had devised, the very same one that brought you here.”
Melbourne glanced at Dead Eyes, who was still watching them intently. It was hard to tell whether or not he understood any of it.
“I heard little to no news from Doctor V until nearly a week after I returned to Brussels. There was a mystery in the papers, a German officer had been tortured and found dead in a field just outside of Brussels. My heart pounded faster as I realised that Doctor V had done it. Then one day, I was sitting in a café when someone slipped me a letter. I did not see the face of the person but I suspected it was my partner, or at least somebody he had paid to do this. The letter said that he was in grave danger, that things had gone wrong. Trust no one, he told me. He said he was right about his lead, the one that had led him to the Count. I couldn’t imagine how he came about extracting information from that man. In his terrified rumblings he wrote that he had discovered a shocking truth, something so horrifying that he would not tell me in the letter in case someone else would find it.”
“The photos of the Iron Shadow.”
“I believe the officer was most likely someone who knew the Count and what he was up to. He went on saying that our houses and Le Rossignol Chantant were not safe anymore, so the exchange of information would occur hidden in plain sight, at the Theatre de la Monnaie. ‘Don’t engage in a conversation with me, we don’t know each other,’ he wrote. ‘Bring a dark looking umbrella.’
“Of course, we both now know that what went wrong was Danielle. I bought my ticket for that night’s showing of ‘The Magic Flute’ at the Theatre de la Monnaie and bought myself a nice suit and a black umbrella.
“The theatre was packed that night, and I sat myself down in a corridor seat close to the middle of the audience. Security was not as tight as I thought it would be, but most of the audience was German. As the lights began dimming I could not spot Doctor V anywhere in the theatre.
“Just ten minutes after the show started, I heard a loud thump and ear piercing screams coming from behind me. I turned to see Doctor V lying on the ground near some seats, a puddle of blood forming around him. A few of the women nearest to him fainted, while others would not stop screaming. I looked up to see some strange men looking down from one of the balconies. And then it occurred to me – he had been assassinated.
“I shoved my way through the frightened crowd until I reached him. He was still alive but had little time left on this earth. He grabbed my collar and pulled me closer to him.
‘The umbrella,’ he whispered. ‘Dark one, near entrance. Take it. And run.’
“At that very moment it dawned on me that if they had found him out, then the Germans most likely knew about me. If they were watching him, they most certainly were watching me as well. As people looked away from the horror unfolding before them, I took his false documents from his pockets and substituted my own, leaving behind also my pocket watch. If I could make them believe I was dead and find new documents, I could get away more easily. Doctor V let out his last breath, his eyes staring straight up at the glittering ceiling of the theatre. I closed his eyes and headed to the entrance hall where I found the umbrella and did as I was told. I ran away.
“I knew my room was being watched and it was a matter of time before they would enter it and find the coded letters Countess de Libremont had sent me. I got in through the back window and destroyed any evidence of the letters.”
“Not all of it. But I removed what you left before the Germans arrived.”
“Well, I was in a hurry. I reached Luc’s house and knocked on the door. His wife was there and I asked if I could see Luc. She told me they had found him face down in a ditch earlier that day, dead. She then slammed the door in my face.
“I was aghast, but I had to keep moving. I could hide in Libremont but I was sure the streets were being patrolled. There was little to no doubt they were looking for me everywhere. I remembered something the Countess had told me, about a hospital in Uccle that could provide false passports to exit the country. It was my best bet.”
“Of course. She sent me to the same place. That’s how I recovered your umbrella.”
“Really? I had asked for it to be destroyed.”
“Was that realistic? It was a very nice umbrella.”
“I suppose. Anyway, I stayed at the Berkendael Medical Institute for two weeks, posing as Doctor V. In that time, I discovered the documents and studied them using the projector the hospital had to examine the contents of the microfilm. I understood why Doctor V had been hunted down. I can only imagine what he must have gone through to have acquired them. I stole a German soldier’s passport and left. The plan was to find a way to cripple the Iron Shadow for some time, then leave for the Netherlands. I was a fool. I should have taken the information with me and left the country. Instead, I acquired some explosives from some men of the Resistance I knew on the outskirts of Brussels. I thought I could cripple the Iron Shadow before escaping, buy the Allied forces some time. At night, I headed out towards the forest where the Iron Shadow was hidden, following the map that Doctor V had left in the umbrella. As I began planting the explosives, I felt the barrel of a rifle shoved in my back. They had found me. I was so bloody stupid.
“I was brought to the nearby castle, where I met Count Wolfgang von Krommel and discovered what the Iron Shadow was for. Danielle was brought in as well, thinking that she would find Doctor V. They believed I was dead, and I assume she learned a few details about my partner when her men must have raided his apartment and discovered a number of documents, most likely with his code name written on them. So I played along saying I was him, and I felt a tinge of revenge when she bought it. My instincts had told me not to trust her from the first day, but Doctor V’s love for her led to his downfall. Who knows how many more times she had played the trick of being the helpless French girl to capture enemy spies.”
“At least once more, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, well… yes. I was imprisoned in the dungeons of the castle, waiting to be prosecuted and executed, and that is when, to my great surprise, you showed up. And now here we are.”
“Please,” he said, “let me apologise once again for never having told you that I worked for Intelligence. I never meant for you to get involved in any of this. This is entirely my fault.”
Melbourne sat in silence, contemplating his brother’s words in shock.
Henry Arthur shook his head. “I’m truly sorry my brother.”
/>
“Arthur, you did what you felt was right,” Melbourne said. “Never apologise for that.”
“But look where right has brought us.”
Melbourne turned to glimpse Dead Eyes looking over them. Could the man be devious enough to pretend to be bored with a lengthy story in a language he couldn’t understand? It was hard to fathom, looking at him. And Danielle had treated him as an attack dog rather than a colleague. It was safe.
“Look,” Melbourne said, “don’t react to what I’m about to tell you. I can get us out of here.”
“How?”
“Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Good,” Melbourne said with a grin. “Now listen…”
XLIX
“Do you remember the telegraph that von Krommel received from the Kaiser?” Melbourne asked.
Henry Arthur nodded.
“I saw the telegraph machine when we were brought in here.” He suddenly remembered the enthusiastic man carrying one side of the knapsack station and the words Major Webb-Bowen had told him. “It’s in the carriage just in front of us, in the last compartment. If we are going to Cap Gris-Nez, it means St. Omer is not that far off. The moment we see the sea from that window we should be near enough. If we can get to the telegraph machine and send out a message, it will be picked up by RFC headquarters in St. Omer. We tell them where the train is heading, and they can have heavy bombers in the air above us within the hour.”
Henry thought about this for a moment. “Melbourne, I’ve got to say, that is a truly terrible idea.”
“Why?”
“First off, we have our good friend here watching our every move. We are tied up and he has a gun – I correct myself, two guns. Secondly, there are hundreds of soldiers in this train, most likely also inside the room with the telegraph machine. How in the world are you going to get passed all of this?”
Melbourne contemplated that for a second. “Well, I was simply going to make it up as I went. But perhaps we should plan out a few more details.”
“That might be wise.”
“But first things first.” Melbourne turned to Dead Eyes. “Excuse me, my friend.”
Fräulein Doktor’s henchman gripped the handles of his guns. Melbourne leaned over and whispered “We need to leave now,” in German, barely audible.
Dead Eyes stared at him.
Melbourne shook his head. “I’m sorry, we need to leave,” he whispered again, even softer.
Their captor frowned and drew himself closer to hear.
Melbourne head butted him.
Dead Eyes fell back with a yelp, dropping his pistols on the floor to grip his bleeding nose. Melbourne kicked them under the bench and twisted his arms behind him. One hand came loose just as Dead Eyes recovered enough to start searching for the guns on the floor.
Melbourne smashed his fist into the man’s jaw.
Dead Eyes fell off his seat but stayed conscious. He tried to push himself up off the ground. He turned to look at his captives but instead saw the butt of one his pistols. It was the last thing he looked at before it crashed onto his head making him lose all senses.
Melbourne dropped the pistol next to him and freed his other hand from the rope that bound him. He did not entirely uncoil it, he merely loosened it, placing it on the bed next to Henry, who was staring at him.
“What?” Melbourne said. “I freed myself while you were talking. You thought I was just going to sit there and do nothing?”
“All right, you got past this man, now please explain to me how you are going to get to the telegraph machine, because I seem to be missing some pieces of the puzzle here.”
Melbourne stopped to think. “You’re not going to like this.”
“I’ve already assumed that.”
“Oh, bugger, we don’t have a lot of time.” Melbourne pointed out the window. “The sea.”
He opened the window and peeked outside. And there, through the trees, were occasional glimpses of water. The sudden rush of air blew his hair into a frenzy. He pulled his head back inside. “So, here’s the plan.”
He took one deep breath and placed a leg out of the window.
“Oh, no,” his brother said.
The rush of air was a lot stronger than he expected – the monster at the head of the train was apparently as powerful as it looked. Half of his body hung outside, fighting the wind pushing him against the carriage. But he once had to stand up in his cockpit in order to capture a loose guy-wire. How much harder could this be?
He gripped the window sill tightly and pushed his other leg out. He quickly slipped down, not finding any ground beneath his feet, his hands gripping the sill ever more tightly. He hung loose, trying to find some balance as the wind rushed over him like a hurricane, hollering over his ears, pushing him, breaking his balance. He looked down and found a metal rod that ran along the bottom of the car – and tried to ignore the ground beneath it passing by at an incredible speed. He heard Henry saying something but he couldn’t make out a single word. His toes caught the rod – it was a good two inches out from the car wall – and he pushed himself up, popping his head through the window.
“Melbourne,” Henry said, “you can’t — ”
“Wish me luck.”
He was back outside. The vast expanse of the North Sea now lay ahead of him with a buffer zone of pine trees and shrubbery – when he looked ahead, he almost had to close his eyes against the wind and the cinders and smuts from the engine pelting his skin. The howling air was as deafening as the pulsing sound of the gigantic metal wheels pounding the rails.
The metal rod – it had to be some sort of supporting brace – on which he had placed his feet ran along most of the train. He let go of one hand and suddenly his entire body was pushed sideways by the force of air. He reached out and managed to grab the frame of the next window over. He pushed himself off, switched hands – praying the occupants of the next compartment wouldn’t notice his fingers, and walked the rod under the window. It was terribly difficult but manageable.
And so he went, little by little, foot after foot, hand after hand, window to window along the carriage, keeping himself low so as not to be spotted by anyone looking outside. Dead Eyes was going to be out for a while, but he needed to make haste.
Although the next wagon was fairly close by, to Melbourne it seemed to take an eternity to reach it. He was trembling from the strain when he finally made it to the first window. He peeked inside. There was the telegraph machine. And a soldier.
He tapped on the glass.
Nothing happened. He tapped a little harder.
The window opened and the soldier leaned out. “Was ist hier los? Was machst du— ”
One hand went solidly over the sill. The other grabbed the soldier’s collar and yanked.
The soldier flowed over the sill and hit the ground speeding beneath them. Without looking back, Melbourne got his other hand over the sill and vaulted into the compartment.
He blinked the cinders out of his eyes and looked around. The soldier’s jacket was hanging off the back of a chair in front of the receiver, and his helmet sat to one side. Melbourne put them on. His pants – he was still wearing the suit pants he had liberated from the partygoer – could betray him, but if anyone came in, the jacket and helmet might buy him enough time to do something. He sat down at the telegraph machine. There was work to be done.
Melbourne let out a long sigh and began tapping on the long key.
.-.. - / – . .-.. -... –- ..- .-. -. . / ... ..- – – . .-. ... / .-. ..-. -.-./
Lt Melbourne Summers RFC.
The dots and lines began materialising on the paper strip as the machine began sending out the message.
–. .. ...- . / – . ... ... .- –. . / - –- / - .-. . -. -.-. .... .- .-. -../
Give message to Trenchard.
.. .-. –- -. / ... .... .- -.. –- .– / .. ... / -.-. .- -. -. –- -. / - –- / -... –- – -... / .-.. –- -. -.. –- -./
Iron Sh
adow is cannon to bomb London.
-... .-. .. -. –. / ..-. –- .-. -.-. . / - –- / -.-. .- .–. / –. .-. .. –.. / -. . –.. / .. -. ... - .- -. - .-.. -./
Bring forces to Cap Gris-Nez instantly.
Footsteps sounded outside the compartment, light, tapping sounds, not a soldier’s boots. Melbourne stopped to peek out of the porthole fixed in the door. Danielle’s head moved by.
She was heading towards the carriage his brother was still in. Time had just gotten a lot shorter.
He began to frantically tap on the telegraph’s key.
– –- ... - / ..- .-. –. . -. - / ... –- ... / – –- ... - / ..- .-. –. . -. -
Most urgent SOS most urgent.
Melbourne jolted out of his seat and peeked outside the porthole. Now to save Henry.
She was standing in front of the door that led to the next carriage with her hand on the handle. Her movements were slow, clumsy, somewhat out of the ordinary for someone like her. Must be the morphine. Melbourne could use that to his advantage.
He let her pass through the door, then slipped out of the compartment and followed her at a good distance. She walked slowly, carefully, placing each step in front of the other with great care. The trees and scenery racing by outside the windows seemed to disturb her, and she placed a hand on the side of her face to block the view.
A gun was jammed behind her in her belt. His heart pounded hard in his chest. There was no way he was going to get to his brother before she would. In the state she was in, he could probably knock her out, and she wouldn’t even know what had happened. But it was too dangerous, despite the noise of the engines and the pounding of the wheels, the train was crawling with guards.
He hadn’t even finished his thought that one of them came out from the opposite door and began walking towards Fräulein Doktor and him.
No chances now, he thought.
The soldier greeted her and passed by Melbourne without paying him any notice, disappearing into the next wagon. Melbourne stood motionless as Fräulein Doktor reached the door.
The Iron Shadow Page 28
