Saturday, 27 May 1916

As soon as he arrived at the Embassy on Saturday morning, David went directly to the Message Centre, where he called through the wicket, "Good morning, Sergeant Wilkins. Do I have replies from London?"

"Two, sir." He reached up to the grid of pigeonholes above his desk. "One double-encrypted."

"Great! As I had hoped."

"Also, a cable from Mr Wilsdorf, sir."

"Oh, excellent!"

A short while later, in his office, David read the reply from the Minister of Munitions, pleased by the praise. He smiled at reading that Wyndcom's replacement would be appointed by the Prime Minister, knowing this meant R had approved at least one of his requests.

Eager to see if both were approved, he unlocked his desk drawer and file cabinet, taking a small booklet from each to begin the decryption process. The first booklet yielded:

Q
URLEXL YEPL HGXM ANZP ANRPIQS
RGRWV L SUZXJM FJXU
Y

Then, looking at the date on the message, he resolved the cypher and turned to the indicated page in the second booklet, and a minute or so later, he arrived at a readable message:

M
PLEASE TAKE CARE WITH WILHELM
MAJOR G POSTED BERN
R

Delighted with the permission to meet again with the prince, he pondered the next line. Major G? Bryce Tompkins promoted? Makes sense. I'll know when the posting message arrives. Possibly it's there now.

He returned the encryption tables to their places and headed along the hallway to the admin office, greeting as he entered, "Good morning, Mr Robson."

Frank looked up from his desk. "And to you, sir. We have Wyndcom sorted. A message from the French Embassy with details of their train's arrival. The Security Officer has assigned two guards to accompany him. His escort from Reims is now being arranged."

"Excellent. Anything on his replacement? I'm told one has been selected."

The Admin Officer shook his head as he pointed to a stack of paper in a tray. "Nothing in this lot, sir. I'll let you know as soon as I see it."

Back in his office, David opened the cable from Hans and read, nodding. Delivery also to Straßburg. Seems they intend to remain there. But with the Alsatian front already stable, why have they moved there? Preparing for an offensive thrust? Or simply relieving another army? How might I learn more?

He picked up the decrypted message from R and reread it. A definite go-ahead with Wilhelm. What's the best way to approach him? For appearance, there's only one – a letter from the Rolex address in Bienne. But what to say is the crux of it – and the timing of its sending.

Half an hour later, he looked up from another draft of a letter to the prince. "Please, come in."

The Admin Officer entered and handed him a cable. "From London, sir. The new Aide de Camp posting, effective the first of June."

"Great! Thank you, Frank." He scanned through the message, smiling, then handed it back. "This confirms my hunch. I knew him during my time at Oxford. We'll now be much stronger."

"Hard not to be after Wyndcom – pardon my tongue. But on another matter, sir. I had to open your dossier to get regimental details, number and so on, to record Wyndcom's charges and disposition. There appears to be an error in your recorded year of birth – it shows 1894."

David tilted his head. "Oh! How could this be?"

"It seems a nine was written instead of a second eight, sir. Records clerks are not infallible in transcribing."

Don't need him digging and questioning. "Then, handle this the way you think is right. You're more familiar with the system than I am."

"Will do, sir."

After Frank left, David sat thinking. His position gives him access to everyone's records – all the comings and goings. Would he be able to piece together my activities and movements? Rick's as well? Now with Bryce arriving, likely adding to the unusual. Wise to play dumb with my birthday. A twenty-one-year-old half-colonel would surely cause him to question.

But he wouldn't have been posted to his position without top security clearance. Surely, he knows covert activities are part of an embassy's operations. Besides, he's impressed with how I handled Wyndcom. And with my beard hiding my young face, his taking me for thirty-one makes more sense than the truth.'

Though, even dismissing age, less than two years service would cause him to question how I made lieutenant colonel. The field commission and acting lieutenant at Ypres make sense. As does the promotion to Captain and acting Major for my posting here. The brevet to replace Wyndcom as Military Attaché also makes sense. He won't dig.

But back to the writing.