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: Sincere gratitude to GiuliettaC for beta-reading and suggesting improvements to the manuscript.

Chapter 14

Elizabeth watched in apprehension as Foyle unsealed and scanned the letter, but he kept an uncharacteristically immobile face until reaching the last lines, when he raised a cryptic eyebrow. Finally he looked up,
"It's...not too bad. She doesn't go into her reasons. It's not a suicide note."

After a slight hesitation she put out her hand and he passed the letter to her.

My dear Elizabeth,

Regarding our inquiries into Thomas's fate, firstly, although we have got so close to finding Klugeman's man on the scene in Montenegro, I am as yet unable to identify him, and must leave this work to you.

Secondly, I have at last been able to obtain a transcript of the secretly recorded interview from August 1945, and it is nearly everything we hoped it would be, though he stops short of naming his operatives. It is a full debriefing of Klugeman by none other than Robert Stewart of the CPGB's Executive Committee and Controls Commission.
Klugeman reveals, step by step, his concerted political work to discredit the Royalist Chetniks and gain Allied support for the Partisans. While this intelligence would have been of extreme interest and importance at that time, and able to be acted upon at the highest levels, it was, regrettably, left in the hands of our previous Deputy Director, William Chambers, where it was entirely suppressed.
That I was able to get my hands on this transcript at all is owing to the fact that the few people who knew of its existence now feel the passage of time has made it irrelevant to current security imperatives and political affairs.
As you know, Klugeman has retired to a life of journalism, editing the CPGB's 'World News and Views.'

Thirdly, as to the unsubstantiated allegation of treason against Thomas indicated in his file, I can find no proof nor any need or reason for Klugeman to have done this, and I cannot explain it.

Finally, in light of my own circumstances, I must now commend you and your case into the capable hands of Mr. Foyle, and I have communicated this to Sir Alec.
I sincerely apologise for involving you both in our inter-departmental squabbles, which I fear has led to an estrangement of two exceptional people. If an intermediary is needed, I recommend the worthy Mr. Arthur Valentine — recent influences have rather humanised him.

I take my leave with hopes that you will find your way back into Mr. Foyle's good graces, and he into yours, and that together you will conclude this investigation in a manner that satisfies honour, integrity and your husband's memory.

'To know all is to forgive all' - except in espionage.

Hilda

Elizabeth read the letter twice, her brows bent in concentration, a little uncomfortable at Hilda's concern for her reconciliation with the man sitting across from her, and more than a little moved by her final valediction. For the moment, she chose to follow Foyle's earlier example of self-discipline, and set her feelings to one side.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked up from the letter.
"The transcript?"

Foyle rose from his chair to put the heavy manila envelope into her hands, and then walked to the window. Dr. Addis unwound the red thread from the two buttons and slid the thick document out onto her lap. Another handwritten note lay on the top page.

I knew you would find all this — or if you hadn't, that Mr. Foyle would. I hope you can work together. He's a good man, and will see justice done for Tom.

~ H

Elizabeth was about to slip the note into her pocket, but reconsidered and set it on the envelope beside her. Before she could start reading there was a knock, and the door to the flat opened. Valentine had returned with provisions.

As they'd eaten, sitting around the room in various chairs as Miss Pierce had no dining table, Valentine had been brought up to speed on the new discoveries. Then Dr. Addis had taken her cup of tea with her to read the transcript on the sofa, while Foyle, much to his younger colleague's amazement, shed his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and did the washing up of the few dishes they had used.

Valentine was anxious to get his own hands on the transcript, but he staved off impatience by fetching another bundle of files, and resumed his seat at the sideboard. Across the room, Foyle began examining several folders of documents.

A half-hour later, Dr. Addis finished reading the transcript. With a bleak expression she stood and placed it on the folding table top, then suddenly announced that she felt the need of a walk in the fresh air to clear her head. She declined Foyle's offer to join her, took up her burgundy coat from the chair and carried it over her arm to the door. Both men watched her departure.

"That was rather abrupt." Valentine observed.
Gesturing with a document in his hand, Foyle's expression was grim and his voice quiet,
"Well, imagine how you'd feel, reading a former colleague's smug confession of how he'd sabotaged, subverted and conspired against everything you and your friends had worked towards. ...And suspecting that this man may also have ordered the assassination of your husband."
Valentine nodded with a thoughtful frown,
"Will she be all right?"
Foyle bowed his head, revealing his own anxiety over the question,
"...Can't say. She's been through a lot, and it's not over yet. Depends on the results of our work, I suppose."
Then he looked across the room at Valentine, giving him an appraising look for this new expression of concern. Foyle realised that, of course, Miss Pierce's death had affected him as well.
He picked up Hilda's letter to Elizabeth and brought it over to him,
"You should read this, too. You get a mention."
Valentine blinked, somewhat surprised and even touched. He read the letter, and the corner of his mouth turned up, but he made no comment.

Hefting the transcript from the little table, Foyle advised,
"I'll read this through, then it'll be your turn."

To be continued...

Historical Note: MI5 had a listening device planted in the offices of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and recorded the debriefing conversation between James Klugmann and Bob Stewart. On August 29, 1945, MI5's Director Sir David Petrie, informed SOE, SIS, the Political Warfare Executive, the War Office and the Foreign Office of the transcript's existence, highlighting Klugmann's 'betrayal of information' and 'most unforgivable offence, his efforts to secure that only intelligence was obtained from the field which supported his policy of recognition for Partisans and discrediting of Chetniks.' From: The Politics and Strategy of Clandestine War: Special Operations Executive, 1940-46 Edited by Neville Wylie.
The general reaction to this news was that it should be suppressed as it would be an embarrassment to everyone if it was revealed that they had been lied to.