Polly nodded, and they got on the escalator. But the level above was just as crowded. “After the trains stop, we might be able to sneak up to the surface,” Polly said. “There shouldn’t be anyone in the station but the guard.”
“But what about the raids?” Merope asked fearfully.
“Oxford Circus wasn’t hit—”
“You said Padgett’s wasn’t hit either,” Merope said accusingly, and Mike shook his head in warning at Polly and said, “I don’t think upstairs is a good idea. Isn’t there anywhere down here?”
“No,” Polly said, looking around at the entrances to the tunnels, trying to think which platform might—
She frowned. There, emerging from the southbound tunnel, were the two urchins the guard had been chasing. How had they got up here? The guard had said they’d vanished into thin air. “Hang on, I have an idea. Stay there,” she said and, before the other two could object, darted into the tunnel.
Halfway along it was a gray metal door marked Emergency Exit and under it, No Unauthorized Admittance. A couple was sitting in front of it on a plaid rug, righting several overturned dishes and mopping up spilled tea.
Polly ran back out to Michael and Merope. “I think I’ve found something,” she said. She handed Merope her handbag.
“Why are you giving this to me?” Merope asked.
“You’ll see. Come along.” She led them into the tunnel and stopped a few yards short of the door. “Tell the couple you’re an Underground official,” she whispered to Michael, “and that you need to go inside, and then follow my lead.”
He did. “Official business.”
“We’re looking for two children,” Polly said. “They stole my bag.”
“I told you, didn’t I, Virgil?” the woman said. “They’re thieves, I said.”
“They’re not in there,” Virgil said. “They come barreling out, knocking our things all about, a bit ago.”
“Broke my plate with the pansies, they did.”
“They went that way,” Virgil said and pointed. “But you’ll never catch ’em, not those two.”
“We plan to set a trap for them,” Mike said, “if you’ll just let us through,” and the couple immediately began packing up the hamper and moving it and themselves away from the door.
“I hope when you do catch them, you lock them up,” the woman said as they opened the door and went through. “Young hooligans!”
“Why is it everywhere I go there are horrible children?” Merope said as soon as they were inside. She stopped and looked at their dimly lit surroundings. They were on a landing, and above and below it an iron staircase spiraled out of sight.
Polly crossed the landing to look up and then down the steps, but apparently no one besides the children had discovered the stairwell yet, and hopefully Virgil and his wife would keep anyone else out, at least on this level. There were obviously doors on other levels or the children couldn’t have used it as a shortcut. And if it was an emergency staircase, that meant it went all the way to the surface, hundreds of feet up.
“This is perfect,” Merope said, going up several steps and sitting down. “Now we can talk and not worry about people hearing us. I have so much to tell you—”
“Shh,” Michael said, looking up the staircase. “We need to see if anyone else is in here first. I have a feeling sound carries a long way. Polly, you check up above, and you check below,” he said to Merope, who obligingly scrambled to her feet and ran down the steps. At least no one would be able to sneak up on them. Merope’s footsteps clattered loudly down the iron treads.
Polly started up, but before she’d climbed three steps, Michael’s hand clamped round her wrist. “Shh,” he mouthed silently. “Stay here. I’ve got to talk to you.” He waited, listening, as the clank of Merope’s footsteps faded away below them.
Oh, no, he’s realized why I asked him when he left for Dover, Polly thought. He’s going to ask me if I have a deadline, and if I tell him, he’ll begin asking questions—
“Was John Lewis supposed to be bombed?” Michael said. The question was so utterly different from what she’d expected that she could only gape stupidly at him. “Was it?”
“Yes—”
“What about Buckingham Palace? Were the King and Queen supposed to have almost been killed like that?”
“Yes. Why are you—?”
“What about the other raids? Have they been where they were supposed to be?”
“Yes.” It’s a good thing we’re not having this conversation out in the station or we’d be arrested for being German spies, she