schnapps they found they both had an affinity for. On the second day, Vonstein asked more about Schmidt’s mission. He explained what he was doing and that his commander, a Fredrik Eichel, had also been arrested and was in jail.
‘Once I am well enough, I will have to join him there.’ He lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘There was one other of my group that escaped. As far as I know, they didn’t find him, and from the things we saw and photographed, he has some very interesting things to tell them about where the real invasion shall be coming from and it will not be where our army thinks it will be.’
Vonstein made some positive noises, then Herman changed the subject, asking about a place in Germany that they both knew.
That evening, Vivi was working the night shift again when there was a call put out, and medical staff raced to the Germans’ room. The new patient had been sleeping when he had awoken to see Vonstein was unconscious, frothing at the mouth, blood gushing down his chin. The doctors were busy saving the life of an incoming patient, and vowed to be there as soon as they could. In the meantime they determined he would need to be isolated in case it was contagious.
The guards assisted Vivi as they moved Vonstein, still unconscious, into a smaller room. So many of the rooms were now occupied with soldiers that there were only a few to choose from, and this was no more than a cupboard they used to use for extra linens, but it was a secure room. As the guards went back to check on the original room and the other nurse on duty left to get the doctors, Vivi tidied up the mess around her. But as she turned her back for a second, she felt an arm around her waist, and Vonstein’s hand came over her mouth.
‘Please don’t move and don’t scream, Vivi,’ Vonstein whispered in French. ‘I don’t have long, and I need to talk to you alone.’
Vivi was frozen in terror, her mind racing. He must have faked his illness, maybe bitten his own tongue. And with him being apparently unconscious, they had removed his handcuffs to transfer him. She sucked in a breath, trying desperately to remember her training, but he had hold of her in an extremely tight grip. She could scarcely breathe.
Suddenly, he switched to speaking English in her ear. ‘Listen to me, Vivi. This is really, really important. I don’t have long. I am honestly working for SOE as well. I have secretly defected from the German army, but my plane came down when I was travelling back into Paris undercover, to rendezvous with my French Resistance team before I continue my critical work with the Germans. I have to get back directly. If I am missed much longer, it will become evident there was a complication, and they will ask questions. The guards are talking about eventually moving me to jail, but I have a job to do and I have just received some very important news about a fugitive who has information that I have to intercept and deal with.’
Vivi flinched at the realisation of what that could mean exactly.
He continued, ‘Please, Vivi. I know it’s an enormous step for you to trust me. Think about how you felt about me in the first week. That is who I really am. Not this act I have to put on.’
She could hardly breathe as she was listening to him, every kind of emotion overwhelming her.
‘I know it is hard to trust me, but I’m going to ask you to do something. There is one operative in London who knows exactly who I am and about my deep cover. I need you to go to Baker Street. Not just to prove to you who I am, but to also let them know what happened to me. I had expected my commander to find me by now, as I have not checked in, and as I said, he is the one person who knows what I’m doing undercover within the German intelligence. You need to locate him and speak to him in person, to tell him where I am. Do you understand? Since one of the French Resistance circuits was uncovered, we believe there is a mole in SOE and many agents have been killed and captured, so I couldn’t just call him or send a message, it is all