Winthrop had somehow harmed Major Ramsey? No, I had seen how quickly and silently the major moved. And he was much bigger than Winthrop. Even if Winthrop was much stronger than he looked, he’d have had no chance against both the major and Colm.
If there had been a gun battle, I would have heard it.
No, I was quite sure, just as the men inside the house were, that they had caught the traitor and secured the documents.
Nevertheless, after ten minutes of waiting in silence, I could take it no longer and made my way stealthily toward the house. I had just reached the front door, which faced away from the sea, when I heard the sound of a second car approaching. I pressed myself against the house, deep in the shadows.
The car pulled to a stop a moment later, and I let out a relieved breath as Felix and Kimble emerged. They had followed Winthrop from the hotel as Ramsey had instructed them to do. Now Felix could make the forgery of Jocelyn Abbot’s letter, and they would be ready to meet the German agent.
“It’s me,” I whispered, stepping forward.
“Everything all right, Ellie?” Felix asked, coming to my side.
“I think so. Matthew Winthrop arrived and the major followed him into the house. I didn’t hear anything after that.”
Felix grinned. “Well, I’m sure if Winthrop had any thoughts of putting up a fight, he gave them up when he saw Colm.”
I nodded.
“Let’s go in,” Kimble said. He led the way, slowly and quietly opening the front door. Felix and I followed.
Inside the house, we found Matthew Winthrop tied to a chair in the living room, the major and Colm standing over him. The stolen plans lay on a desk, along with a smaller envelope containing the letter from Miss Abbot to Barnaby Ellhurst.
The major looked up as we entered, and his eyes landed on me. I expected him to glower at me, but he seemed indifferent to my presence. I realized I was not his particular focus at the moment.
“Now, Winthrop,” he said, turning to face the young man. “Why don’t you tell me all about it?”
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Matthew Winthrop said, his gaze fastened to the wall before him.
“It’s Sir Nigel running your scheme, isn’t it?” the major said. “This is his beach house, obviously, and you’ve been working for him, using your collector’s club as cover for your activities.”
Winthrop looked at him for a moment, then averted his eyes and said nothing.
“What time is the drop to take place tonight?”
He still didn’t answer.
“Is the German contact to meet you on the beach?”
This went on for what seemed a long time, the major asking questions and Winthrop silently refusing to answer them.
Then Kimble stepped forward. “Let me have a crack at him, will you?”
“You’re wasting your time,” Winthrop said. “Do what you like to me, but I’m never going to talk.”
“I could have you singing like a bird in two minutes,” Kimble said flatly.
Winthrop’s eyes darted nervously to the cold, expressionless face of the man who had threatened him.
That first night, when Uncle Mick and I had been captured, Kimble had questioned me. I had had the impression he’d seemed uninterested, almost bored, with the whole thing. I’d since come to realize I had been seeing Kimble’s polite side that evening.
“Shall I, Major?” Kimble asked.
My heart picked up the pace a bit. They weren’t going to do him harm, were they? But one look at the hard faces of all the men present, and I knew that they would do whatever they needed to. Perhaps this eventuality was the reason Major Ramsey had wanted me to wait outside.
“You’re not going to let him near me,” Matthew Winthrop said, but there was a quaver in his voice. He was a university student and poet, not a hardened spy, and he was in over his head.
The major shrugged. “I’d wager it would only take him a minute and a half, even.”
“I’ll take that wager, to keep things sporting,” Felix said. “Shall we say a pound?”
“Make it two,” Major Ramsey said.
“Done.”
“I’ll keep time.” This came from Colm, who pushed up his sleeve to look at the watch on his wrist.
Matthew Winthrop had begun to sweat by this point, and he looked at Major Ramsey again. “You can’t let him hurt me,” he said.
The major sighed regretfully. “I’m afraid there aren’t very many things I won’t allow under situations like this.”
Matthew Winthrop’s jaw clenched, and I pressed my lips together