You'd hardly think he was halfway up the wall worrying about them, thought Baker, watching Kinch out of the corner of his eye.
It was true, though. There was no restlessness, no irritability; Kinch just got quieter as the day went on. But the crease between his eyebrows became more noticeable as the hours passed, and he watched the entrance from the emergency tunnel almost constantly.
"Is it always like this?" Baker asked him, after a couple of hours.
"It's never easy, Baker. Some days are worse than others." Kinch stretched his back, trying to ease the ache in his shoulders. "If you're going to be on the team, you might as well get used to it. There's one essential rule on assignments - don't attract attention. In Germany, that's not an easy rule for some of us to follow. So most of the time the other guys go out and take all the risks, and we stay home and mind the store."
"That's tough," observed Baker.
"Yeah. Especially when I know I speak German better than any of them. You ever heard Newkirk? I don't know how he gets away with it, sometimes."
"Carter's the one that amazes me," said Baker. Kinch was starting to relax; it seemed a good idea to keep him talking. "I couldn't believe it, when he did that Kraut general act of his."
Kinch gave him a half-smile. "Don't get taken in by that gormless look. Carter's a lot smarter than most people think, himself included. And the things he knows how to do, nobody does them better."
He glanced down the tunnel again, then suddenly stood up, listening. The next moment, he strode forward, as first LeBeau, then Carter and a woman emerged from the dimly-lit passage.
"You made it. Took you long enough," he said. "I was starting to..." His voice broke off, as he took in LeBeau's pinched, brooding expression, and the wide-eyed despair on Carter's face, and realised there was nobody else with them. It took him three attempts to speak. "Where are they?"
"We had to leave them." LeBeau tugged off his gloves. "We had him safe for ten minutes, and then we had to leave him behind, and Colonel Hogan as well."
Kinch stared at him, unable to take it in. LeBeau flung the gloves onto the radio table. "The Gestapo were watching the place," he went on. "Carter brought her out, but the others stayed behind." He jerked his head towards the woman, who was still standing in the tunnel entrance, looking around with an expression of distaste.
"It's Bayreuth, Kinch," added Carter unsteadily. "Newkirk's contact."
Kinch's eyes fixed on her. A woman, on his first assignment since the Gretel fiasco; no wonder Newkirk hadn't been game to bring her back to Stalag 13. "Okay," said Kinch. "I get it."
"No, you don't," LeBeau shot back fiercely. "Elle est la belle-soeur de ce cochon Hochstetter."
"She's what?" Kinch was almost stupefied by the information.
"I speak French, you know," interrupted the lady herself.
"Well, I don't," Baker put in, looking puzzled.
Nor did Carter, but he understood anyway. "She's Hochstetter's sister-in-law. Newkirk said she was okay, and Colonel Hogan said to bring her home. So if you've got a problem, LeBeau..."
"Okay, stop right there." Kinch put his hand on LeBeau's shoulder as the little Frenchman started forward. "Don't make things worse than they already are." He turned to the woman. "Is it true?"
She gave him a defiant look. "My name is Elise Hochstetter. My husband is Wolfgang's brother."
"Newkirk said she was okay," repeated Carter stubbornly.
Kinch took a few seconds to decide whether Newkirk's recommendation was acceptable. "Then I guess she's okay. Staff Sergeant Kinchloe, ma'am. Welcome to Stalag 13. The accommodation is a little basic, but it's safe." He was sure she needed to hear that word, and he knew at once he was right; her lips started to tremble, and she lowered her eyes.
Neither Carter nor LeBeau had moved. Kinch glanced at both of them, trying to assess each man's state of mind. He wasn't happy with the conclusions he came to. "Baker," he said, "take the lady to the sleeping quarters - you know where they are? And see if you can get some hot water, so she can clean up a bit; she'll feel better for it."
As Baker, following both Kinch's instructions and his example, escorted Elise with grave courtesy from the radio room, Kinch turned his attention back to the other two. Carter had sat down in front of the radio when Baker left, and was leaning on the table with his head on his hands.
"What happened?" asked Kinch.
"Carter got us lost in Hammelburg," growled LeBeau. Carter flinched, but LeBeau went on relentlessly. "Newkirk got to Blackbird before we could stop him. By the time we found him, the Gestapo already knew where he was going to be."
"Hold on a second." Kinch looked from one to the other. "What was that about Blackbird?"
"The Gestapo were in Sonnenstraße when we got there." LeBeau flushed with anger. "We worked out Blackbird told them."
"No way," said Kinch.
"That's what I said." Carter raised his head. "But when we found Newkirk, he'd just been there, and Blackbird told him to go back to the Weinkeller and wait, on your instructions, Kinch. The Gestapo got there two minutes after we did."
"Okay, I'm already confused. Go from the top."
Carter leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. "LeBeau, you tell him."
"They got to Sonnenstraße ahead of us." LeBeau spoke low and very quickly. "That was why le colonel called in and told you to cut out all radio contact. We followed Newkirk across town, but by the time we found him, he'd already spoken to Blackbird, who had told him he contacted you, and got instructions for Newkirk to wait for us at the Weinkeller. We knew he was lying, because the radio was down. Newkirk had left her with Bruno, so we had to go there to pick her up. The Gestapo arrived before we could get away."
"Oh, man," muttered Kinch. "Blackbird, of all people. He's one of our best operatives."
"One of theirs, as well," said LeBeau bitterly.
"So what about Colonel Hogan and Newkirk?"
"I had to leave them, Kinch. It was a direct order." Carter dropped his head back on to his hands. "I had to leave them," he repeated, just above a whisper.
"They had men watching the building," LeBeau explained sullenly. "Carter brought her out, but the others stayed. Bruno, as well."
It was obvious there was more to the story, but these two were in no state to give a clear report. LeBeau was too angry, and Carter too guilt-stricken. Calming the pair of them down was the first necessity. Somewhere at the back of Kinch's awareness, a tiny voice kept telling him this couldn't be happening, but he would have to deal with that later.
He put his hand on Carter's shoulder, and gave him a gentle shake. "Andrew, if the colonel told you to go, you had to go. At least we've got you two back safely, and Bayreuth as well. Get out of that uniform, and then go up to the barracks and get some sleep. I know - you think you can't. But we might need you later. If there's anything that can be done, we're going to do it, right? So go get some rest."
"You think there's something we can do?"
"I don't know, until I get more information. But I'm not ready to give up yet." Kinch nodded towards the tunnel. "Don't make me tell you again," he added, in the closest approximation of Hogan's tone and manner that he could manage. It raised the ghost of a smile from Carter, as he went off to change into his own clothes.
Kinch turned back to LeBeau. "Louis, I know it hurts, but you can't take it out on Carter."
"I know," LeBeau passed a hand across his forehead. "But we had him, Kinch, and then we lost them both."
"We'll get them back, if it's at all possible. Look, they'll probably get themselves out of it. When was the last time the colonel couldn't come up with some plan or other? And Newkirk's never short of ideas, either. If anyone had to be left to fend for themselves, they're the best equipped to deal with it." He gave LeBeau a minute or so to absorb that before he went on. "What about her? Do we know the story?"
"There wasn't time for Newkirk to tell us much. He said her husband - Hochstetter's brother - was the informant, and that they had to get out of Germany." The anger which had sustained LeBeau until now was starting to give way to exhaustion and grief; he was calmer, but it was the calm of despair.
"I'll speak to her. You go and change, and get some sleep if you can. And sort it out with Carter, Louis. He's pretty cut up about it."
LeBeau took himself off to the wardrobe store, while Kinch went to find Elise in the sleeping quarters that normally accommodated Allied servicemen staying over on the way to England. Baker passed him in the tunnel.
"She's a piece of goods, that one," he murmured. "Wants to know why there's no bath. Newkirk was probably glad to get rid of her."
Kinch raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like we're in for an interesting time. Look, Baker, I know it's been a long day, but if you can stay on duty for another hour, it'd be a big help. If the Gestapo have taken them, it's possible Hochstetter will phone here as soon as he realises who he's got, so we need to monitor all incoming calls."
Baker headed off to the radio room, and Kinch proceeded into the sleeping quarters, where he found Elise perched gingerly on the edge of one of the camp beds that were kept there. Baker had found her a clean set of fatigues, which were loose but likely to be more comfortable than the clothes she'd arrived in. The look on her face as she inspected her new environment gave every indication of dissatisfaction
"I warned you it was basic, ma'am," he said.
She gave him a sour look. "There's basic, and there's primitive. What you have here is not basic."
It was on the tip of Kinch's tongue to reply in kind, when he noticed that she had her fingers interlaced so tightly as to threaten the circulation. She wasn't just being difficult for the sake of it; she was trying to keep a grip on an emotional state barely on the safe side of complete panic. He felt a rising wave of compassion; she might not be the most simpatico of visitors, but she'd had a really bad day, and was among unfriendly strangers. He could only imagine what the trip here with Carter and LeBeau had been like, and he couldn't blame her for being prickly.
"I know it doesn't look much," he said. "We charge extra for the rooms with a view." He scrutinised her carefully. "Are you okay? You weren't hurt at all?"
"Nothing serious. My feet hurt a little." Judging by the blisters that were visible now that she'd taken off her shoes, they probably hurt a lot.
"I'd better see to that," murmured Kinch, and went to fetch the first-aid kit.
He sat down on the next cot while he attended to the damage. "Can you tell me what happened last night?" he asked, as he gently washed away the dirt. "I need a clear picture, and I'm not getting much sense from those two who brought you here."
"It's perfectly simple, sergeant." She paused, clasping her fingers even tighter. "Your man met me as arranged, but because I wouldn't give him the information he came for, he wasn't able to leave before the Gestapo came. So if anything has happened to him, I am responsible for it."
"Go on," said Kinch quietly.
"He got me out. He looked after me, and kept me safe when...I'm sorry, I am trying." Her voice had started to break, as her self-control wavered. "I don't even know his name."
"Newkirk. Corporal Peter Newkirk."
Elise considered that, mentally fitting the unfamiliar name to the man. "I knew he wasn't an officer," she murmured at last, and once more Kinch had to hold his tongue.
"You should get some sleep," he said, finishing the treatment of her feet. "If you need anything, someone will be in the radio room."
"Thank you," she said. Then, apparently aware that she'd somehow offended him, she added, "I didn't mean he wasn't good enough."
"I hope not, ma'am. Newkirk's one of our best."
As he got up to leave, she remembered something. "What about the information I was to give him? The names of the German agents in London? I told him that once he got me here..."
"Later. We can't pass them on till we're cleared to use the radio again."
"I'd rather do it now," she said, gazing at him. "That was the agreement - as soon as I arrived."
She'd almost reached her limit. It was better to humour her. Kinch produced a notebook and pencil from his pocket, and gave them to her. "Write them down."
He barely glanced at the page when she handed it back. "Now, will you try to sleep?" he said gently.
"You'll wake me if you have news?" She looked up at him with a kind of timorous anxiety, and his vexation died.
"No, ma'am. It'll keep until you wake up." He didn't tell her how long he thought it would be before they heard anything; he just left her to find the sleep she so desperately needed.
It was quiet in the tunnel. Carter and LeBeau had gone up above; apart from Kinch, the only ones down here were Baker in the radio room, and Elise in the sleeping quarters. He came to a standstill midway between the two areas, then abruptly turned and headed for the emergency tunnel entrance. He went to the foot of the ladder leading to the tree stump in the woods, and stood there listening. No sound reached him from above.
For once, it was just too hard to go on being the sensible one. He would give them until lights-out, and then he was damn well going out himself to look for them.