Page 26 of The Amsterdam Enigma (The Continental Capers of Melody Chesterton #3)
R at was awake early the next morning. He had also set his alarm clock, though it hadn’t been necessary; after tossing and turning before falling asleep and then, after experiencing a few restless hours of sleep, he woke at dawn.
He kept going over what they had discovered, first when awake, and then even in his dreams. He and Alessandro had agreed it was best to review everything properly in the morning with clear heads, but Rat hadn’t been able to consider sleep until he had decrypted the manifests they had transcribed.
Before they crept out of Huis Jansen in the early hours of the morning, carefully relocking the doors, the men had agreed to meet again, but without informing Melody.
Alessandro had been the driving force behind this decision, though Rat had agreed, albeit reluctantly and with a guilty conscience.
Alessandro’s argument was that they needed to determine precisely what was happening and what steps to take without the complications of Melody’s naivety regarding the importance of saving lives.
Now, as he dressed in the morning’s early light, Rat felt more guilty than ever about their subterfuge. He understood Alessandro’s point, but he also recognised the validity of his sister’s view that they couldn’t even consider allowing a bomb to detonate and kill or maim people.
Rat tried to push aside such thoughts and instead focus on the primary task at hand: gaining a complete picture of what Germany was plotting.
Alessandro had suggested that they rendezvous at the townhouse rather than the hotel, to avoid running into Melody.
While this made sense, it also made very clear that they were going behind her back in a way that he wouldn’t be able to argue against if Melody ever discovered they’d met.
And yet again, he was back to obsessing over their deception rather than focusing all his efforts on solving the riddle in front of them.
Finally, Rat decided he’d had too little sleep to focus his mind properly.
Instead, he gathered his papers and sneaked out of the back door of the hotel, letting his thoughts drift wherever they would.
If he felt guilty, well, he should. Perhaps dealing with that discomfort was the price he had to pay for deceiving his sister.
Rat pondered whether he should worry about being followed by someone who might or might not be shadowing them.
In the end, he decided that, if they were under surveillance, it wasn’t news that he was working with Alessandro.
Therefore, a visit to the man’s townhouse, even early in the morning, wasn’t unusual in itself.
Alessandro’s front door was opened by Mustafa, whose usual cheerfulness was a little much for Rat to deal with on so little sleep.
“Sidi Alessandro is waiting for you. Would you like me to bring you some tea or perhaps coffee?” the boy asked. Rat replied that very strong coffee would be welcome and then allowed himself to be guided into Alessandro’s drawing room.
He wasn’t sure whether he was happy or disappointed not to find Fatima waiting.
Ever since they had arrived in Amsterdam and the beguiling woman’s choice of living arrangements became clear, Rat had come to terms with the impossibility of pursuing his interest in her.
Then he met Jemima Edwards and felt a flicker of romantic hope that began to dim his remaining foolish dreams of Fatima.
Mostly. There was still enough of an ember left that Rat felt uncomfortable watching her play host in Alessandro’s home.
Alessandro, still wearing a dressing gown, greeted Rat warmly. “Matthew! I wasn’t sure how early to expect you, but I didn’t imagine it would be before nine o’clock in the morning.”
“Apologies if it’s too early, but I wanted to share what I’ve uncovered and discuss what we saw. ”
“No apologies needed. It is more that I’m impressed by your resilience. Now, tell me, what have you learned?” Rat then explained that he had deciphered all the additional manifests they had discovered at Huis Jansen.
“I am not sure that we have all the manifests for the complete message, and there are some German words I need you to translate, but I do have a theatre name and a date.” He paused, then said the words that would explain his inability to sleep. “August 6th.”
“But that’s tomorrow!” Alessandro exclaimed in horror. “Wait, you said you have a theatre name. What is it?”
“The Stadsschouwburg.”
Alessandro leapt up and went to grab a newspaper from a nearby sideboard.
He scanned the first couple of pages before saying in an even more horrified voice, “I knew I’d seen something.
” He returned to his seat and handed Rat the newspaper.
It was in Dutch, so he couldn’t understand all of the language, but what was clear was who was in the photograph accompanying the news story: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
“There is a special opera performance tomorrow night that the Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik are attending,” Alessandro explained.
Rat sank back in horror at Alessandro’s words. Whatever they had imagined Germany was planning, an assassination attempt on the Dutch monarch was more terrible than anything they had expected. Rat thought about the flyers he had found along with the bomb parts.
“They are going to detonate a bomb at the theatre, then blame an actual or at least attempted assassination on anarchists.” As he said this, Rat realised that in the excitement of planning their late-night visit to Huis Jansen, he had forgotten to show Alessandro the flyer he had taken from the crates at the port.
While he was wearing a different jacket from the one he’d had the day before, he’d had the foresight to put the leaflet and the fuse cap into the pile of materials that he’d added to the night before when he’d deciphered the manifest. Now, he pulled them both out and showed them to Alessandro.
“I gather it says something about neutrality,” Rat volunteered. “I have no idea what the rest says.”
“It says that neutrality is a lie and that Germany cannot be trusted, essentially.” Rat then handed over the fuse cap. “What am I looking at?” Alessandro asked, turning the cap over and over in his hand, a bemused look on his face.
“It’s a fuse cap. More importantly, it is stamped with a symbol indicating that it is British military equipment.”
Neither man spoke for a few moments as the implications of their discovery sank in.
“Germany is planning not merely to suggest a weak link between the supposed anarchists and this bombing, they’re going to make the connection explicit and perhaps even lead the Dutch to the conclusion that the British are behind it,” Rat exclaimed.
Then he had another thought. “Why would the Netherlands believe Britain would do such a thing?”
“Why would Germany? Both countries would like to sway the Netherlands out of its neutrality and towards themselves. If fear of anarchists might make this country more inclined to look towards its neighbour for security, one could argue that it could also make it lean towards one of its biggest trading partners across the Channel.” Alessandro considered his claim: “Let’s follow this narrative thread: Britain either arms these anarchists or perhaps commits the deed itself and plants evidence of anarchist group connections. ”
“As Germany is planning to do.”
“Precisely. Perhaps the stamp on the fuse caps was something that was overlooked, or perhaps the expectation is that they won’t survive the explosion.”
Rat stood and began pacing the floor as he tried to follow Alessandro’s logic. “So, if the caps won’t survive the explosion, and I’m assuming they won’t, how would Germany ensure this is traced back to Britain?”
It was a good question, and one Alessandro had to consider for a few moments.
Then, he snapped his fingers. “Perhaps they will rig this in such a way that a fuse cap, even if it’s not actually part of the bomb, will be found lying around.
After all, they also have to ensure that the leaflets survive and are discovered.
Who knows what they have planned? Whatever it is, this plan is devious and we need to stop it. ”
The men agreed that, regardless of their initial opinions on whether preventing the actual bombing was a priority, the situation had changed drastically now that it appeared to involve assassinating the Dutch royal family and planting evidence directly implicating Britain .
“I found those bomb parts yesterday morning, so they’ll have to get them off the docks soon. But how are they planning to get them into the theatre and then assemble them?” Rat mused.
“Actually, there’s a genius behind this plan.
Consider all the equipment needed for a theatre production, from props to lighting.
It wouldn’t be difficult to sneak in bomb parts; in fact, it’s much easier than trying to smuggle in an assembled bomb.
We should go to the theatre and find out what we can about the upcoming performance. ”
Suddenly, Alessandro slapped his head and picked up the newspaper again from where Rat had rested it on the table in front of them, then translated, ‘The royal gala performance will be of Die Walküre , presented by the Dresden Staatsoper, and promises a night of triumph for German music lovers in Amsterdam.’ The theatre will be full of German cast and crew, and pulling this off won’t even be a challenge. ”
He stood, and Rat followed his lead. They both knew they needed to act, but what should they do? They had no authority to search the theatre and limited evidence that might persuade anyone of an imminent bombing.
“We need to talk to Sir Alan,” Alessandro decided.
“The British Envoy to the Netherlands? Do you think he can help?” Rat asked, his words heavy with scepticism.
“He may be the only person who can. We have no authority and little credibility; he has both. We can only hope he believes us.”
With so much at stake, Rat hoped rather than believed that Alessandro was right.
First, they had to persuade Sir Alan of their roles and then take him through all they had learned.
While Rat did not doubt the truth of their information, he imagined it might seem less than convincing to an outsider.
They had made many conjectures and drawn connections between those conjectures that might be seen as insufficient reason to cause a panic.
Yet what if they were correct? Wasn’t it better to appear foolish than to risk the alternative?
Rat nodded in acceptance of Alessandro’s plan.