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Just as I turn away with the thought I should find Charlie, a boom hits my ears. Spinning back I see a plume of fire and smoke billow from behind The Firs.

The antenna is gone.

Chapter 27

They do come. Just as Ursula said they would. But not as I expect and sooner than I thought possible.

After watching the fire and smoke die down behind the roofline, I set myself towards the constabulary. But three steps in the proper direction and Chief Constable Wilmot, with Charlie close behind him, is already upon me. At first I think they’ll race past me down High Street to the fire, but they slow. They stop.

“Miss Brown. Would you come with me a moment?” Chief Wilmot’s tone is cold, clipped, and formal.

“Of course.” I look at Charlie for answers, but his blank expression gives me no clues as to what’s happening.

I follow the men towards the constabulary in silence. My only reassurance that all will be well comes just at the end. Chief Wilmot strides through the door first, but like a gentleman, Charlie waits for me to precede him. As I step past, his fingers tangle with mine. Too briefly for anyone to see, but long enough for me to feel the connection and assurance all the way to my toes.

Chief Wilmot leads us through the partitioning gate at the front desk, past a silent Sergeant Boyle, and into the back room where I’d sat with Charlie a couple of weeks ago. He drops into a large wooden armchair that protests vehemently against his weight. “Please sit.”

I lower into one of the upright wooden chairs across from him. Charlie stands behind me.

“The fire brigade is on its way to the Beurtons. What happened there just now?”

I shake my head. After all, I may have guesses, but I don’t actually know.

“Miss Brown,” he barks.

I flinch. “She left. That’s all I know for certain. She took her kids to Berlin. But I suspect she blew up her radio antenna. At least that’s what she implied she was going to do. Maybe all her other radios too.”

I expect rapid-fire questions, but none come. The chief nods and a sigh pushes through his tight lips almost like a whistle. “Wait here.”

Charlie remains silent as the chief leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. I twist in my chair to face him.

“What’s this about?” I whsiper.

“I don’t know. He was setting out to The Firs before the explosion. We all heard it, and he turned back in, ordered Boyle to call the fire brigade, and told me to come with him. Then we saw you.”

“She came to see me, Charlie. Just now.”

He steps towards me, but the door opens before anything more can be said. Chief Wilmot walks back into the room oddly relaxed. He sits down slowly, gently, and the chair barely protests this time.

“Will they stop her?” I take a guess that he’s just made a phone call and to whom. Charlie stands beside my chair.

The chief’s eyes take on a knowing glint. “I’m not entirely sure they can, Miss Brown.”

I bite my lip and consider how much to reveal, how much to ask. But it’s all beyond me. I might as well get answers from whoever will give them to me. “Did you call Mr. Skardon or Mr. Serpell? Miss Bagot?”

He huffs, but not in anger, which surprises me. “I called the same people I’ve always called when something suspicious about the Beurtons comes up. The same people who asked me to keep an eye on them five years ago when the family first arrived.”

Charlie’s eyes catch upon mine before his drift closed for a second. I understand. Basically he’s saying “What fools we’ve been.” And we have been—especially me.

He opens them and addresses his boss. “Miss Brown came to me a couple of weeks ago, sir. I apologize for not telling you.”

This brings out a full belly laugh. “Tell me what? That Miss Brown here stumbled upon a spy? I would have feared looking daft, too, Constable. I can’t blame you. The first time they came to me, my eyes near popped out of their sockets. And I won’t say there haven’t been strange happenings, but it’s been fairly quiet for the most part too. Until recently.”

“When Klaus Fuchs was arrested,” I interject.

“Interesting. I didn’t make that connection, Miss Brown.” The chief addresses me before focusing on Charlie again. “Perhaps bringing me into your circle could have made a difference, but most likely not.”

“Nevertheless, I apologize again, sir.”