London

Actor left the Mansion early the next morning, intent on catching the 'milk train' to London. He was carrying a suitcase for the Lieutenant and a soft holdall containing his own necessities.

Unsure of what was required of him, he'd opted for a dark grey suit, topped with a beige mackintosh. On the kitchen table he'd left a note for Will. 'Gone to London, taken the Austin, leaving it at the station. Richards will call in the morning.' It was all he needed to say.

Despite everything it had been difficult to sleep. He'd heard Chief and Amber creep into the house sometime after midnight. They sounded happy enough, so presumably the Indian had managed to talk her round.

The train was relatively on time, as it puffed its way into Twyford station. All being well, he would be at Allied HQ in little more than an hour.

Despite the early hour, Major Richards was waiting for him, hovering in the entrance to the HQ building, looking agitated. "Let's get some breakfast." The officer glanced over his shoulder and escorted the conman out onto the street before his arrival had really registered with anyone.

A quiet seat at a table in a nearby café was quickly secured and the two men sat down. A waitress flitted over, notepad in hand. Actor was about to wave her away, but Richards got there before him.

"Coffee, eggs, toast," he ordered quickly. As the waitress departed, he spoke quietly. "I'm surprised at you Actor. Yes, the toast will be cardboard, the eggs powdered and the coffee ersatz, but she is unlikely to remember us for doing anything out of the ordinary."

Actor smiled. "Thank you, Kevin, for reminding me of my responsibilities. I have been a little... forgetful... of late."

Kevin smiled in his turn. It didn't do any harm to remind the conman, occasionally, that he needed to keep his guard up.

The two men chatted in a desultory way until their order was delivered. Both knew they would now be left alone, for a while at least.

Actor took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. He swallowed it anyway and persuaded a forkful of scrambled egg to follow it into his stomach. "So, what happened?"

Richards was making better progress with the contents of his plate. "General Fremont had a couple of his top interrogators ready and waiting. Seems he didn't believe the medics when they said Garrison had been subjected to mind altering substances."

"I thought Fremont was on our side now?"

"Generally, he is, but I think Major Johns got a chance to make him reconsider."

Actor pondered for a moment. "What about your man? The one that faked the Norwegian mission?"

Richards shrugged. "Johns is saying that he was acting on Garrison's instructions, some sort of double bluff."

"And the man himself?"

"Committed suicide last night. Cyanide pill."

"Convenient."

"As you say, convenient."

"So, what happens next?" Actor tried the toast and decided it could be worse, although he wasn't sure how much.

"However hard the interrogators tried; Garrison never shifted his story. In the end, they decided to set him free. He's in a hotel just around the corner from Allied HQ."

Actor's brain was working in overdrive. "Tell me if I got this wrong, but they intend to release him back to his unit and let him make another mistake?"

"That's about the sum of it. I spoke to the medics. Seems like they'd been given an interim report from McBride and Darrow. They'd not dealt with exactly the same procedures that we think were used on your Lieutenant, but they suggested he'd need two to three weeks of rest to get the drugs out of his system and hopefully make some sense of what he experienced." The Major paused. "I should add... they weren't totally confident that he would ever recover fully but given his strength of character they thought he had a better chance than most."

"And?"

"Fremont eventually agreed Garrison would get some time to recuperate. He didn't say how long, but in the meantime his men were available for work."

"He's hedging his bets." Actor gave up on the toast and lit a cigarette instead. He offered one to Richards, but the Major shook his head.

"It's understandable. Garrison is a valuable officer, and he doesn't want to lose him... but if he's going to protect the Lieutenant, he has to give Major Johns something in return. His team is probably the only option."

Like it or not, the conman had to acknowledge Richards' logic was sound. "Do you have a plan?"

The British Commando nodded. "Johns had a particular project in mind. It was one that has been vetoed by the planners at least three times in recent weeks as being too risky. He managed to persuade Fremont that we couldn't wait any longer."

"And the General agreed?"

"Yes... but this was the interesting part, Fremont insisted that he be responsible for nominating the man who led the mission. Johns suggested several people, most of whom were incompetent. Fremont manged to shoot down each for a variety of reasons.

"What about Captain Hayter?"

"You're right, his name came up quite late in the discussion. It was probably a last-ditch attempt by Johns to find someone that might be a plausible leader, but he was vetoed too. North Africa, the General said. It would take too long to extricate him from his current responsibilities."

Interesting, thought Actor. They'd heard nothing about Diesel since he'd left the Mansion. Clearly whatever he was up to was something the Allies were not willing to jeopardise. He took a pull on the cigarette then abandoned it to the ashtray and cocked his head to one side.

"I assume you had someone else on your list?"

Richards smiled. "Maybe... someone our Major doesn't know... I don't even know if I can get access to him... and even if I do, he may not agree to take part, but it's the best I can do for you."

"What do you need?"

"Forty-eight hours," replied Richards. "I want you all to be uncontactable for that time. That should give me the time to put together something that will keep Johns quiet. With luck, by the time you return, Craig will be back on his feet and able to take over command again."

Actor nodded again. "I take it you have somewhere in mind for the Warden?"

"Oxford," Richards replied. "I understand he has some... affiliation with the city?"

It took all of Actor's consummate skills not to show any reaction to the Major's words. Clearly, the Lieutenant had not been as clever as he thought he'd been at hiding his friendship with the young bookshop owner.

"I'm sure I can arrange for him to be accommodated," he finally replied.

"Good. And the others?"

"I will stay in the City, and I don't think it will take too much persuasion for Casino to take leave of absence. Chief and Goniff might be more difficult, however. Neither have shown any inclination to travel of late."

Richards nodded. Actor's words matched with his intel. "That should work. I doubt Johns could put something together with just the Cockney and the Indian and I'm sure they can manage to be hard to pin down for a couple of days, even if they are at the Mansion. I'll call the sergeant-major and tell him what he needs to know."

The Major paused. "Can I leave the Lieutenant up to you?"

"That would be for the best," Actor acknowledged. That way, the Commando could truthfully say he had no idea of the Warden's current location, nor when he would return. As things stood, it was the best they could do.

"In that case, I'd better get back to work." Richards swallowed the last of his 'coffee' and shook his head. "I'll see if I can find us something more palatable next time." He stood and attracted the waitresses' attention to settle the bill. "Good luck, Actor."

The Italian stayed a while longer, working through his plans. Finally, he left the café and made his way to a public telephone box. Ideally, he would have preferred to make the call from his own apartment, but he lacked the time. If he was to persuade the person he was about to speak to, to do what he wanted plus convince his commanding officer to do the same, there was no time to transit London twice.

The telephone call was, in the end, surprisingly easy - once he had persuaded the person on the other end of the line to take him at face... or rather voice... value.

Garrison was still in his room at the hotel. With its dark brown furniture, brown curtains and cream wallpaper discoloured by nicotine stains, it wasn't somewhere designed to improve someone's frame of mind. Having been delivered there the previous night, he'd been unsure of what to do next. That the next person he should see was Actor, didn't come as any particular surprise.

The conman arrived bearing the gift of a cup of coffee. He looked at his commanding officer with some degree of concern. The Lieutenant was normally fastidious when it came to his personal appearance, but that wasn't the case today. John Smith's men had shaven him before the trip to Filton, but that had been over 24 hours previously. The uniform was still the same one he'd been wearing when captured.

Actor placed the suitcase on the bed and undid the clasps before flipping open the lid. He extracted shaving kit and clean underwear. "You have twenty minutes to make yourself presentable." He stood back and folded his arms.

It was testament to Garrison's mental state that he did exactly as he was asked.

GGG

Actor walked briskly away from Garrison, leaving him standing on the station platform, a small suitcase in his hand, gazing blankly at the engine sitting puffing gently. Would the Lieutenant board the train, or walk away?

The conman kept his back straight and did not look back... well, not until he knew he was out of sight. Then he turned and, obscured by a pillar and some wrought-iron work, watched.

Garrison had not moved but then, with what looked like a deep sigh, took first one step, then a second. Finally, he stepped into the carriage and disappeared from sight.

The Italian let out a pent-up breath. He had done all he could. What happened next was out of his hands. He took his gold cigarette case from his pocket and lit one of the cigarettes, breathing deeply of the smoke, before glancing at the station clock.

It was still early. He had plenty of time to do what he needed to do and be back at the Mansion before nightfall.