Disclaimer: Foyle's War was created by Anthony Horowitz, and the characters of Christopher Foyle, Arthur Valentine, Elizabeth Addis, Sam and Adam Wainwright, et al., jointly created by Mr. Horowitz, Mr. Michael Kitchen, Mr. Tim McMullan, Ms. Hermione Gulliford, Ms. Honeysuckle Weeks and all the other brilliant actors. No infringement is intended, only admiration.

Historical note: The meeting of British Liaison Officers from both Chetnik and Partisan missions, and the brawl between them, actually took place in Bari, Italy, just across the Adriatic Sea from Montenegro.

Thanks: Gratitude to GiuliettaC for beta-reading and suggesting improvements to the manuscript.

Chapter 11

Dr. Addis uncovered one of the maps and tapped with an index finger on the western coastline,
"The largest gathering of agents, of course, was here in Montenegro in mid-December '43 when Forces Command ceased all support operations with the Chetniks. One of these markers represents Thomas, and one is Michael Rees. What other names are shown in Miss Brown's chart?"

Foyle consulted the document's timeline for mid-December.
Valentine had reached up eagerly towards the top row of file holders, but paused to catch Dr. Addis's eye, and gestured with an open hand,
"Em… May I?"
"Yes, of course. Everything. Please do."
He pulled all the documents from the top left file holder, looked about for a suitable work surface, and laid them on the little sideboard under the kitchen serving-hatch. After a moment he announced with excitement,

"These are the German signals! She's annotated them with references to signals from field agents…"
His voice faded as he became engrossed in his reading. However the low sideboard quickly proved an awkward height for the near six-foot-tall man; he soon claimed the extra chair from the alcove, and sat sideways beside the materials.

Foyle, who had watched their exchange with mild amusement, turned his attention back to the information in his hands and answered Dr. Addis's question,
"...Er… Liaison Officers with the Chetniks were Major Davies, Brigadier Armstrong, Captain Purvis, Captain Rees, and an American OSS officer, Captain Seitz. ...Agents who arrived from Partisan Support Missions were Captain Deakin, Colonel Bailey and the American OSS officer, Captain Benson."

Elizabeth listened thoughtfully and added,
"Many officers were accompanied by nationalist field agents, and by their wireless transmitter operators. Any one of them might have been a fellow traveller. We have their names in the various Mission reports."

Foyle tilted his head before reminding her,
"...And then there was Major Will Hudson."

She shook her head, slightly exasperated,
"Hudson. His Operation was one of the earliest landed in Yugoslavia, and it was so loosely defined that he seemed to travel wherever he pleased, from various Chetnik headquarters to sundry Partisan camps and back again."

"Seems to have been left to his own devices. ...Doesn't that strike you as...em...?"

"Not particularly. Before the War he had worked in Belgrade as a consultant mining engineer, spoke fluent Serbo-Croat and knew the country better than his SOE commanders. As one of the first on the ground, his mission was to discover which groups, of whatever ilk, were organising the best opposition to the enemy, and how we could support them."

"He was never absorbed into any of the later, more strictly defined missions."

"No." She agreed.

Foyle grimaced in dissatisfaction,
"I'd like to interview him."

Elizabeth lifted her brows as if to say, 'suit yourself,' but, turning away to study the map again, replied,
"Certainly. ...You'll have to find out where he is. I'd be surprised if he'd put down roots anywhere."

Foyle couldn't help noticing an unexpected trace of scorn in her words. He wondered again about those 'odd questions' she'd mentioned just before they'd gotten out of the taxi. However, he chose to leave aside the topic of Hudson for now.

Instead, Foyle stood beside Elizabeth in front of Hilda's board and asked,
"Is the information here that you'd planned to present to the Prime Minister's aides at the Cairo Conference?"

She sorted through several of the file holders, found the papers all together in the lower right, and, lacking a more formal conference table, carried them to the sofa. Foyle hesitated briefly before joining her, the files lying on the seat between them. She took up the first document and began by explaining its importance.

Valentine left his chair at the sideboard and crossed in front of them to retrieve another group of files. On his return pass he glanced covertly at Foyle, and observed that, despite his respectful attention to Dr. Addis, there was a tinge of uneasiness in his colleague's eyes. And he, too, wondered what the woman was keeping from them.

A half-hour's reading and consultation, and a comparison with the German signals annotated by Hilda, was enough to construct a sure case to present as proof of pro-Communist interference. And by extension, a motive for eliminating Captain Thomas Addis. Valentine had carried his chair over to face the sofa, and the three discussed their findings.

Foyle placed his hand on the dossier the Addises had compiled,
"This...is essentially circumstantial evidence, except for the testimony your husband had recorded from five agents whose signals were definitely altered. However, together with these...,"
He laid his hand on the files containing the German signals, but Valentine broke in and finished his sentence,
"...We have undeniable proof of repeated interference with field intelligence at Cairo."

Ignoring Foyle's displeased, wide-eyed stare, he went on,
"German field commanders name Chetnik leaders, such as Major Keserović of the Rasina Corps, or Trifunović in central Serbia, as being at the front of organised forces opposing them in '42 and '43. They received this intelligence from members of the Occupied Yugoslav Government and from other collaborators.
"Whereas signals and reports coming from SOE Cairo for Allied Command, at the time of these engagements, name and give credit to Partisan leaders who, quite clearly, were not in the region at the time.
"Miss Pierce has noted there are even instances of signals from Cairo sent deliberately to be intercepted by German field commanders with outright lies about Chetnik intentions, including reports of collaboration with the Italians, which were sent on to German High Command, and then in turn intercepted and decrypted here in England."

As Valentine paused for breath, Foyle explained,
"However, Miss Pierce records that it was also the case that German Marshall Wilhelm List, General Franz Boehme, Lieutenant General Paul Bader, and their field commanders, did not always know which resistance group they were engaged with and tended to refer to any and all Yugoslav fighters as 'Partisans' - which compromises our argument. ...Frankly, I'm disappointed the Germans weren't more precise in these matters."

Valentine smirked agreeably at his colleague's remark, and also at the realisation that he had said it to amuse the lady.
Elizabeth gave him a sidelong glance and a half-smile.

Foyle looked encouragingly at her before continuing,
"Yet, despite all this evidence…" He shook his head in mild frustration,
"...who can we name as the Soviet sleeper agent?"

Valentine added with rather less delicacy,
"...And where is the proof that anyone ordered the assassination of Addis?"

Foyle had to give him another hard look, to which he responded with a wince of compunction and mumbled,
"...I beg your pardon, Dr. Addis."

A quick, tight smile covered any hurt from his blunder, and Elizabeth replied,
"I do have a name in mind."

To be continued...

Author's Note:
For dramatic purposes, and with modern hindsight, I have taken the side of the Chetniks, but there is such confusion and controversy around histories of wartime Yugoslavia that it is difficult to know the truth as to agreements around and acts of collaboration, or even whether such acts were truly egregious, under the circumstances. And this is due to the misinformation put out by various sides, especially SOE Cairo, and owing to historians who take various reports as accurate, which may in fact be questionable propaganda. Residual lingering animosities from this era continue the dissemination of doubtful information.