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, Mr. Daniel Weyman, and all the other brilliant actors. No infringement is intended, only admiration.

Thanks: Gratitude as always to the sagacious GiuliettaC for beta-reading and suggesting improvements to the story.


Chapter 12

As the two investigators waited expectantly, Elizabeth Addis rose from her seat and began pacing slowly and thoughtfully in front of Hilda's work board, looking very much the university lecturer that she was.
Foyle found himself admiring the neat, heather-grey, pinstriped suit - and the figure of the woman in it - but quickly brought his focus back to her words.

"I presume you've studied the personnel files of the men in command at the Cairo office, and I would imagine no one has jumped out as suspicious — well, other than Keble, who was certifiably mad."
She glanced over at them, then continued,
"We are looking, in fact, for someone who, while not appearing to exercise influence, not having a position of accountable responsibility, authority or decision-making, served as a 'central clearing house' for every operational decision that came from above to be passed down the proper channels for action; and, as well, for all information and intelligence coming in from field agents and Liaison Officers to be forwarded up the chain of command. ...Someone who could reasonably have access to almost every aspect of Cairo operations, in the course of his normal duties. Someone who became a trusted functionary to be relied on in every matter. Someone who began at a low rank and, by making himself agreeable, innocuous, and unambitiously indispensable, was regularly promoted. ...There was really only one man in that position."

She paused — not for dramatic effect, but from a lingering anxiety to name the man out loud.
Foyle, having listened and watched Dr. Addis with attentive respect throughout this prologue, on seeing her unconsciously biting her lower lip in hesitation, felt a rather unprofessional surge of attraction for her. He immediately subdued the impulse and hid his emotion with a serious-minded frown.

Believing she could, indeed, trust and rely on these two good men, Elizabeth squared her shoulders and faced them.
"His name is...Norman Klugeman."

Foyle narrowed his eyes in interest, recalling the particularly sparse personnel file of a nearly nondescript bureaucrat. Valentine remained outwardly passive but his gaze intensified.

Dr. Addis continued,
"At Cairo, Klugeman began as a mere staff clerk. But within half a year he was promoted to captain, was soon invited to be present at every meeting, oversaw all communications around intelligence signals, briefed all incoming field agents, and, with his apparent wide-ranging knowledge of international affairs and a facility for learning languages, became a trusted advisor to Brigadier Keble on every aspect of operations. By the Spring of 1944, when SOE moved to Bari, Italy, he held the rank of Major."

Dr. Addis resumed her slow pacing as she spoke,
"Late last year Hilda discovered an old compilation file on recruits in training who had previously come to the notice of the Security Service. As early as December of 1940, MI5 had sent a letter to Aldershot advising that Private Norman Klugeman of the Royal Army Service Corps was 'not recommended for secret work.' It would seem certain from this that there was a pre-war file about him and his activities. Unfortunately many of those early records were destroyed at Wormwood Scrubs during an air raid. In that letter MI5 also requested that Aldershot keep an eye on him and report back. There was no response to that request, and MI5 inexplicably waited nearly a year to follow up on it.

"Klugeman had left Aldershot with a draft for the Middle East in June of '41. He made himself useful in Cairo and by February of '42 he had been hired by SOE. A short time after that another letter was sent by MI5 to the effect that it would 'seem inadvisable that Klugeman should be employed in secret work.' But by then he had become a favourite of Brigadier Keble. Keble wrote back that Klugeman was 'hardworking, trustworthy and loyal,' and that he was 'entirely satisfied with his work and that he should be extraordinarily surprised if he should ever have to eat the above words.'"

"Seems a rather mild warning from MI5." Valentine commented.

"Indeed. Ambiguous, uninformative and rather passive."

She glanced at Foyle before continuing,

"...I've done some digging at universities here and on the continent and I found that Klugeman was at the forefront of student communist activities in the 1930s, that he recruited students to be members of the Party. He was an active Party member at Cambridge, and when he moved to Paris in 1935, ostensibly to do postgraduate research, he was in fact working for the World Student Assembly for Peace, Freedom and Culture, an organisation controlled by the Comintern. In 1938 he toured the world with another Communist Party member, and they spoke in front of large student gatherings in America and in the Far East. He met Mao in China and Nehru in India."

Foyle and Valentine exchanged looks of astonishment.

"It is quite likely that he now holds an important position in the Communist Party of Great Britain. Undoubtedly he has regular contact with the new Soviet organisation that replaced the Comintern in '43."
Concluding her report, Elizabeth clasped her hands behind her back and addressed her audience of two,
"None of these activities were or are illegal. However, in the context of a possible sleeper agent influencing wartime Allied policy in Yugoslavia...they are highly indicative."

Valentine offered,
"We can certainly find out his position in the Party, and whether he has a regular Russian contact here."

"Thank you, Mr. Valentine."

"Is Klugeman here in England?" Foyle asked.

"For a year he worked for UNRRA — the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration — on their mission to Yugoslavia. He left Belgrade and returned to London in July."

"Left during the show trials." Valentine commented cynically.

"And before the executions. Yes." She confirmed.

Foyle was sympathetic but dissatisfied,
"Other than the very significant implications of his Communist Party affiliations, is there... any hard evidence of Norman Klugeman himself acting directly to suppress or alter intelligence signals?"

"Well, given that Klugeman had attained full authority to vet all signals and reports, and was rarely if ever asked by Brigadier Keble or Colonel Wilson to provide an original decryption, there is very little 'hard evidence,' however…"
Elizabeth brought out of her suit jacket pocket a small envelope and extracted from it a folded and previously crumpled paper. She studied it hopefully,
"My friend in the signals room gave me this, found by another W/T operator. I say 'found' but in fact that operator went in search of his original decryption after the intelligence report on the outcome of a Chetnik skirmish with the Germans was falsified and disseminated within the hour. ...We would have to track down that operator, to testify, to act as a witness..."
Dr. Addis raised her eyes to Foyle's, and he saw in them the familiar wounded look of appeal he'd so often received, as a police officer, from wronged and hurt victims of evil acts. But now he experienced a palpable sympathetic pang in his own heart, both undeniable and, in his previous career, grounds for removing himself from the investigation.

Elizabeth hesitantly brought to him, and handed over, the carefully preserved paper. It was partially burnt at one edge, and she explained,
"Klugeman was a pipe smoker, but it was well known that he often burnt paper in his office and would blame the smell on the inferior tobacco of the local merchants. This paper was retrieved, by clandestine means, before it was entirely burnt."

Foyle wondered why she had withheld this piece of physical evidence, but decided he couldn't fault her for building her case first. He studied the written 'corrections' to the typed lines, and twisted his lips to one side,
"If he'd block-printed the changes we'd have nothing, but he has handwritten them." He looked up at Elizabeth with a faint but encouraging smile,
"You have other samples of his handwriting? Official letters or statements?"
"Yes, I do."
Foyle passed the document over to Valentine, who read it and also smiled,
"We've got him! -Haven't we?" He asked Foyle, and returned the paper to Dr. Addis, who slipped it into the envelope for safekeeping.
"Quite possibly…" Foyle answered optimistically, eyeing the lady, "But best not count our chickens…"
Valentine grinned, and shook his head,
"Don't mention food, please. I'm starved. Isn't anyone else hungry?" He looked at his wristwatch,
"It's past three."

Ten minutes later Valentine found himself shrugging on his overcoat, donning his hat, and being ushered down the hallway to the door by Foyle, who was promising to make a pot of tea in Hilda's kitchen and attempting to hand him an unnecessarily generous ten bob note to procure them some lunch.
"I don't need pocket money, you know." He objected in an undertone, and realised he sounded just like a peevish younger brother being bribed to make himself scarce.

To be continued...


Historical Note: The character 'Norman Klugeman' is based on Norman John "James" Klugmann (1912 - 1977), whose life, activities, and work at SOE Cairo were very much as described in this fictional story.