of yours. I hadn’t put two and two together until now. Most unfortunate, most unfortunate indeed. But don’t worry, it was a long time ago, and the rest of your family did great war work. They took care of a lot of people in that hospital. I think I’ve got something about it here.’
She handed Sophie another historical book, which documented all the hospitals converted from stately homes during the war and how they’d been transformed to take in prisoners and soldiers. Sophie read through it. It was indeed amazing to see the transformation the manor had gone through. There were about six pictures of the ballroom, which looked like a hospital ward. ‘Can I buy a copy of this?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ responded the woman. ‘That’ll be £19.99.’
Armed with her book, Sophie was just about to leave when an older man she imagined might be the Harold Westlake her auntie had mentioned came in through the door.
‘Well, hello there, did you enjoy the exhibition?’ he enquired, eyeing her quizzically.
‘Yes, thank you. I’m interested in the hospital at Hamilton Manor and the work that Cornwall was involved in during the war.’
The gentleman’s eyes lit up. This was undoubtedly a subject he liked to talk about.
‘Ah, we were very important,’ he stated loudly. ‘Our boats transported spies, you know.’
‘Really. Out of Helford?’ Sophie had wanted to leave, but he was now in the flow of his story and she didn’t want to appear rude.
‘Oh, yes,’ he continued with obvious pride.
He drew her attention to a wall with pictures of boats lined up. Past sea captains were smoking cigarettes, and trussed in knitted sweaters, heavy trousers and boots, posing on their decks, including his father, he informed her.
‘Can you imagine what it must’ve been like?’ he said with great admiration. He led her over to a photo, and pointed out two or three boats and sea captains. ‘This fellow, John Thompson, he made about thirty trips with different spies. They used a boat that was marked up like a French boat and he used to go over and mingle with the fishing boats in France, and then they would transport the spies to the shore. He did that early in the war. Even got into a near-lethal fight with an actual Nazi once.’
Sophie’s eyes flashed up at him. Was this another avenue for her to get more information about Vivienne? ‘Do you know much about that story?’
‘Oh yes, it’s well documented,’ he said, going away and pulling out an account in another leather-bound book about the Helford fishermen.
‘The Helford Flotilla, as it was known, had stopped transporting spies by that time in the war because it had become very dangerous. But somehow a nurse, the landowner’s daughter, no less, who worked at Hamilton Manor, talked him into making this one last trip. But unbeknownst to him she was helping a Nazi escape with her too. He suspected nothing because the woman was a local, he’d known her all her life. She’d dressed the Nazi in civilian clothes too. But halfway across the English Channel he began to think that something was up. The traitors came clean then and the Nazi held John up at gunpoint before he hit him over the head with the gun, afterwards sailing to France and leaving him unconscious on his boat. He was lucky he came around before it ran ashore.’
Sophie struggled to take in what he was saying and felt for the first time the guilt and shame her family had perhaps experienced over the years.
‘How can I find out more about this?’ she enquired.
‘I’m sure his grandson would love to tell the tale. You’ll meet Barney – we joke it’s short for Barnacle because he lives on his boat – down the street. He’s always in the Blue Anchor at lunchtime – end of the bar. You can’t miss him. If you want to know the whole story, you should catch him there this afternoon. Trust me, he’ll be there. Probably on about his third pint by now.’
He chuckled then, and she made her way out of the museum, wondering if she was doing all of this in vain. What if, instead of clearing Vivienne’s name, she found evidence to incriminate her?
When Sophie arrived at the Blue Anchor, ten minutes later, the smell of hops, the damp outside and fresh salted fish greeted her. Sophie realised straight away she was the only woman in the room, as all the heads swivelled to acknowledge her as