Marlena X stuffed the newspaper in her bag and took off at a quick clip. Without thinking, Cat followed suit, keeping her eyes on the woman as she wove through the foot traffic. They seemed to walk for ever. When the houses gave way to businesses, more people milled along the pavement. Soon Cat found herself stuck in a throng of stationary pedestrians waiting for a traffic light to change. Marlena X hadn’t bothered to take off her rain hat. By keeping her eyes focused on it, Cat was just able to see Marlena X standing at the front of the crowd waiting to cross. Cat managed to weave her way through the wall of people, careful not to get too close.
A double-decker bus came barrelling along. Cat saw the rain hat step in front of it. She heard the collective gasp of the crowd. Someone said, ‘Foolish woman.’
Marlena X crossed the street, leaving Cat stuck in the crowd, penned in from all sides.
On a whim, Cat backtracked, taking a parallel street that ran the same direction Marlena X was headed. She walked fast to make time. She spied the floppy hat just two blocks ahead of her. Marlena X turned a corner. Cat followed.
The businesses on this street – dress shops, a beauty salon, and a tea shop – were just opening for the day. Marlena X took her hat off and stuffed it into the pocket of her raincoat. Cat ducked into the doorway of a tobacco shop just as she turned around. Cat took a deep breath, counted to five, and peered out at the street. Marlena X was gone. Cat continued down the street until she came to a dress shop, Colleen’s Fashions and Accessories. Further along was a tobacco shop, but it was not yet open for the day. The pavement in front of Colleen’s had been freshly swept. Inside, an elderly woman walked around the shop with a feather duster.
The bell on the door jingled as Cat went in. She realised that not only was she hatless and gloveless, she didn’t have a handbag either. She couldn’t very well act as though she were shopping. The shop was a small one, with six round racks of dresses and a selection of shoes on a shelf against one wall. Another wall held drawers that Cat imagined contained undergarments and other unmentionables.
In the far corner of the store, a wooden staircase led to the second floor. Two women, a blonde and a brunette, both in their early twenties and very smartly dressed, folded a stack of women’s vests and placed them on the shelf behind the counter. They looked up at the same time and surveyed Cat, who was breathless from the chase.
‘Forgive me. My friend just went up. Do you mind?’
‘You’re a friend of Marlena’s? She’s just arrived.’ The brunette pointed to the stairwell and turned her attention back to her task.
‘The other woman is up there already. She was waiting when we got here,’ the blonde girl said. ‘And mind how you go. There’s no light bulb. The landlord’s too cheap to buy one.’
Cat took a piece of paper from the stack on the counter.
‘Excuse me,’ She spoke quietly, just in case Marlena changed her mind and came downstairs. The blonde girl turned around. Cat beckoned her to come close. She whispered, ‘This is an urgent police matter. I need you to telephone to Chief Inspector Bellerose at Scotland Yard and give him this address. Tell him that Catherine Carlisle told you to call. Will you do that?’
The brunette spoke. ‘Is Marlena in some sort of trouble?’
‘She might be,’ Cat said.
‘Serves her right. She’s rotten to the core. I’ve known it all along.’ The woman met Cat’s eyes. ‘What’s happened to your eye? Did Marlena do that?’
‘I’m afraid she did,’ Cat said.
The woman took the paper from Cat’s hand. ‘I’ll call for you.’
‘Is there another exit? Around the back, perhaps?’ Cat wanted to make sure that there was no other means of escape.
‘No, ma’am.’
Cat crept up the stairs, testing each step for creaky boards. At the top a door had been left open just a crack. A small triangle of light escaped onto the landing, cutting through the murky darkness.
Cat heard movement in the room. She stepped closer and peered through the crack in the door. A tiny bed, covered with a tattered quilt, took up one corner. Next to it was a table with a washbasin and pitcher. A suitcase lay open on the bed. Marlena X moved through the room, gathering her belongings and tossing them carelessly into the suitcase. Cat wouldn’t have recognised the woman had she seen her on the street. She was a tiny thing, with a straight back and a long neck that reminded Cat of the ballet dancers she’d loved to watch as a child.
While Marlena X’s body was supple and willowy, any grace bestowed on her stopped there. Her face was nondescript and unremarkable. Mousy hair clung to her head in greasy tendrils. Her eyes had the hard merciless look that Cat remembered from the day Marlena attacked her, as if her face froze in that menacing look, galvanising that particular part of her personality. Marlena X was confident, strong, and as terrifying as a poisonous snake.
‘I’ve come for my money. Give it to me now, please. I’d like to leave.’ Cat’s heart stopped. She recognised the soft-spoken, well-modulated voice. ‘You’re never going to fit all of those items into that suitcase. Here, let me help you.’
Marie stepped into Cat’s line of sight. Not quite believing what she witnessed, Cat stepped further into the shadows. She covered her mouth with her hand before she could cry out. Marie? Cat couldn’t believe it. Through the crack in the door, she watched as Marie took several dresses on hangers from Marlena’s arm.
Marlena picked up a blue sweater and folded it into a tiny ball. ‘I don’t know if I should pay you at all.’
‘What do you mean? I risked everything to help your cause,’ Marie said. ‘Now Benton’s dead. Isobel is beside herself. We haven’t any money and we need to leave. I upheld my part of the bargain, and I expect to be paid.’
‘And what will you do if I decide against paying you? Go to the police?’
‘You shouldn’t have killed Benton,’ Marie said. ‘You made a mistake – admit it. Murdering him brought attention to us.’
‘I didn’t kill him,’ Marlena said.
‘I’m not stupid. Never mind that. When do I get my money? You told me if I got you the documents from Mr Carlisle, I would be taken care of. I did as you asked. I need to leave now. I can’t go back to that house. I’ll be arrested. Give me my money and I’ll be gone.’
The woman shut the suitcase. The latches snapped shut. ‘But you failed, didn’t you?’
‘I most certainly did not, and you know it,’ Marie said.
‘You are a fool. Mrs Carlisle was switching the documents right under your nose. All the documents you gave us were useless.’
‘That’s ridiculous. Catherine? Of course she didn’t –’
Marie fell silent. Marlena X stood in the middle of the room. She peered through the crack in the door and spoke to Cat. ‘You may as well come in, Mrs Carlisle. I know you’re there.’
‘Catherine? What – what are you doing here?’
Cat stepped into the room. She barely recognised Marie, who wore a well-tailored, expensive-looking navy suit. Her hair had been properly set and fell in waves around her face. She even wore face powder and lipstick.
‘What were you thinking? Taking Ben’s documents and giving them to this –’ Cat nodded at Marlena, ‘– spy? She’s going to take the information you gave her and use it against our country. How could you?’
‘How could I not? I lost my husband and my sons in the war. My whole family. Do you have any idea how it feels to lose everyone you love? I have nothing, no old-age pension, no home, nothing. This country took everything from me. I am owed a little something back, and I don’t care how I get it.’ Marie’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘Sanctimony doesn’t suit you, Catherine. You’re a naive woman who has led a sheltered life. You know nothing of struggle.’
‘How could you say that to me?’
‘Enough,’ Marlena X snapped. She pointed a gun at Marie. ‘Mrs Quimby, you have failed miserably.’ She turned to Cat and spoke to her as if she were a child. ‘In this business, as you will perhaps learn, Mrs Carlisle, it does not do to leave loose ends.’
‘Wait.’ Cat stepped in front of Marlena X, blocking Marie in the process. ‘Just let her go. You’re going to leave. No one’s going to find you. What do you think Marie’s going to do, go to the police and tell them the German agent she was collaborating with left her without paying? There’s nothing we can do. I’ll see to Marie. I’ll give her money to keep her quiet.’
‘It doesn’t work like that. Now step aside, or I’ll shoot you both.’
‘The police are coming, Marlena. It’s over,’ Cat said.
‘I don’t believe you,’ Marlena said.
‘I told one of the girls downstairs to call the chief inspector who is investigating Benton’s murder. She doesn’t like you very much.’
‘Marlena, she’s right. There’s nothing I can do –’
Marlena pointed the gun at Marie. She fired.
‘No,’ Cat cried out. Her voice sounded as though it were under water. She rushed over to Marie, just as she collapsed onto the ground, a vermillion bloom forming on her shoulder like a poppy opening to the sun. Cat grabbed the pillow from the bed, shook the casing off, and used it to staunch the flow, while Marlena X stood by, a smug look on her face, the hand that held the gun hanging at her side. Marie was alive, white-faced and wide-eyed, but she was alive.
‘Marie, stay with me,’ Cat said.
‘I’m not dying,’ Marie said. She looked at Cat with glassy eyes as her breath started to come in rapid gasps. She grabbed Cat’s hand. ‘Tell Isobel I love her. Tell her I tried to make things right.’
‘Move away from her, Mrs Carlisle. Now. Get away or I’ll shoot her again.’ Marlena X stepped close to Marie, the gun in her hand steady and sure.
Cat stood up.
‘She’ll live,’ Marlena X said. ‘You’re a novice at this game, Mrs Carlisle. You’ve no one to rescue you. No one knows where you are. Stupid of you to follow me, really. Reckless. I’ve a score to settle with Mr Charles.’
‘Mr Charles?’ Realisation dawned on Catherine. So that’s why he’d been following me. Does he work for Reginald too? She hadn’t questioned anyone, not Reginald, not Chloe. She’d blindly allowed herself to be used by all of them. She imagined – much like Marlena X was doing to Marie – when they were finished with her they would cast her aside as well.
Marlena’s brow furrowed. She cocked her head in question, like a curious puppy. ‘You don’t know? Your Mr Charles killed my husband. Murdered him in cold blood. So while I was trying to get your husband’s drawings – and I admit, you’ve outsmarted me in that endeavour – my real goal was to settle the score between us. Mr Charles took away the only thing that mattered to me. Now he must pay. You’ve been used, Mrs Carlisle. They’ve cast you aside and turned their backs on you. You British have got to be the most gullible fools …’
She moved to the bed, turning her back on Cat to retrieve the suitcase. Cat picked up the closest thing she could find – a heavy wooden chair that was missing a leg – and swung it at Marlena X. It splintered when it hit. Wooden fragments went flying. Marlena X was caught off guard, and when the chair connected with her head, she dropped her gun. It went skidding across the floor, coming to rest just out of Marlena’s reach.
‘I wonder what Thomas Charles will think when he finds you dead in a puddle of your own blood,’ Marlena said in a whisper. She reached behind her and pulled a knife from some hidden place. ‘I wonder what Mr Charles will think when I cut your pretty little face to ribbons.’
Marlena advanced. Cat needed to run, but she couldn’t move her feet.
‘Drop the knife, Marlena.’
Startled, Cat turned. Thomas Charles stood in the doorway, a pistol pointed at Marlena X. The sight of him was so out of context and so utterly surprising, that she forgot about Marlena for just a moment. She stared at Thomas, mouth agape, wondering how he knew where to find her. So focused was she on Thomas Charles that she didn’t see Marlena charging towards her until it was too late. In one swoop, Marlena wrenched Cat’s arm behind her. She stood behind Cat, the blade of the knife cold against her throat.
‘Drop the gun, Thomas,’ Marlena said.
‘Don’t make me kill you, Marlena. Are you ready to die?’ The calm in his voice frightened Cat.
‘Your silly little protégé will die too. You fire, and I shall slice her throat like a piece of ham. How will Reginald like that? You’ve botched this one, Thomas. You’ve failed miserably as a watcher. You’ve got your new agent killed. Again.’ Marlena X laughed.
‘I don’t care. She’s a new agent, untrained. She’s replaceable.’ He kept the gun trained on Marlena, his hand steady. ‘My issue, Marlena, is with you.’
‘I told you I would get revenge. You didn’t believe me,’ Marlena said. ‘Now look at me. I’d say I have the upper hand, wouldn’t you.’
Marlena X wrenched Cat’s arm tighter. Cat cried out. Marlena smelled as though she hadn’t bathed in weeks. Her breath, hot against Cat’s cheek, smelled of onions and garlic and something noxious. Hate, Cat reasoned. Marlena X smelled of hate.
‘Rather unprofessional of you, Marlena. Good spies are not supposed to be emotionally involved. And here you are, settling scores. I believe, dear woman, that you are losing your touch.’ Thomas took a step closer and lowered his gun. ‘I didn’t mean to kill your husband.’
‘But you did, didn’t you?’ Marlena’s grip on Cat loosened ever so slightly. Cat stilled her breathing. Thomas Charles was up to something. She watched his face, eager for a hint of what it was.
‘Think about it, Marlena. You’re the one we were after – there’s no hiding that. This job by its very nature exposes you – exposes us – to a certain amount of risk. Your husband was an innocent victim. He wasn’t our target in Berlin. You were. You knew we were following you, watching your every move. So why the devil did you lead us to your home?’
‘Are you blaming me for my husband’s murder?’ Cat cried out in pain as Marlena tightened her grip.
‘I am. And I can see by the look in your eyes that you blame yourself. You tried to assuage your guilt by killing Gwen. It didn’t work did it? What are you going to do, murder every one of my agents? Vengeance won’t expunge the demons, Marlena. You and I both know that.’
Marlena pushed Cat so hard she fell to the floor. When she landed on her wrist, splitting pain travelled up her arm to her shoulder. A constellation of stars, a galaxy in its own right, circled behind her eyes. She heard a gunshot. Waited for the pain, for the feel of her lifeblood as it drained out. All she could hear was the deep resonance of her own breath.
‘Thomas?’ she called out.
‘I didn’t kill her,’ he said.
Cat lay on the floor for a moment, ears ringing, heart thumping. Sirens blared outside. She turned her head and saw Marlena on the floor, clutching her knee. Marie lay still, her shirt sodden with her blood. Cat rolled onto her back. Tears leaked out of her eyes. She felt the hot wetness of them as they slid down the sides of her face.
Thumping footsteps pounded up the rickety stairs. Sergeant Perkins, Chief Inspector Bellerose, and a gaggle of uniformed officers stormed into the room. They broke into groups and rushed over to Marie and Marlena X, blocking Cat’s view. Cat pushed herself into a sitting position and watched the chaos around her.
Thomas Charles and Chief Inspector Bellerose stood near the doorway with their heads together. They spoke in hushed voices before they nodded at each other, as if coming to some agreement. Thomas hurried over to Cat. He held out his hand to her. She took it. He pulled her to her feet, but he didn’t let her go. Instead he pulled her close and whispered in her ear. ‘I’m very fond of St Edmund’s pippins.’