Page 32 of The Amsterdam Enigma (The Continental Capers of Melody Chesterton #3)
P erhaps it was Rat’s natural modesty that made him so easy to convince about Jemima’s ulterior motives.
After all, hadn’t he been wondering what such a beautiful, vivacious young woman wanted with him?
It made sense that the answer was: she wanted nothing more than to get close to him to manipulate the situation in some way.
As happy as Melody was that her hypothesis about Jemima Edwards hadn’t led to a huge argument with Rat, it was so terribly sad for her to see how quickly her brother was willing to accept that Jemima had never had any genuine romantic interest in him.
When had her brother become so lacking in self-esteem?
she wondered. Of course, Melody had some sense of when and why: all those years of being treated as if he wasn’t good enough by the young society women he encountered, simply because he wasn’t titled and had to work for a living.
While it was heartbreaking to see her brother like this, it was expedient, at least for the sake of the investigation, that he be so accepting of this fact; they simply didn’t have time to bicker.
It was already late Saturday afternoon, and if they were correct, a bomb was set to go off at the Stadsschouwburg in just over twenty-four hours.
Rat told Melody about their failed attempt to persuade Sir Alan to intervene and alert the Dutch authorities. He then updated her on their plan for him and Alessandro to pose as backstage crew members the next day.
“What role am I going to play?” Melody demanded.
Rat sighed; he should have anticipated this question. “Melody, you can hardly dress as a man again and join us. In daylight, no one will be fooled.”
“Let me be very clear about this. I am not going to be left behind. You need all the help you can get, and I know that I can be of use. I will pretend to be an assistant wardrobe mistress. While I am hardly fluent in German, I can certainly speak enough to get by.” Given that Melody had never given her language lessons the attention she should have, this might have been an exaggeration.
Nonetheless, her German was probably her best foreign language, and she felt it was important to make her point.
She continued, “Honestly, I am sure that if I carry some costume pieces around with me, no one will think to ask. The German crew will assume I am Dutch and work for the theatre, and vice versa.”
It actually made sense. As with his plan with Alessandro, the assumption was that everyone would be too busy preparing for the evening’s performance to question random people closely.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Rat answered it to find Alessandro there. If the conte was surprised to see Melody with Rat, Alessandro didn’t show it.
Before Alessandro could begin any sort of charade for Melody’s benefit, Rat said, “I have told my sister everything, and she will be joining us tomorrow.” Before Alessandro could do more than show surprise at this statement, Rat continued, “And, she also has news of her own.”
Alessandro raised his eyebrows at this statement. “What is your news?”
Melody then told him what she had discovered in Jemima’s room.
Rat noticed she said nothing about her liaison with Captain Somerset.
He caught his sister’s eye, but if she understood why, Melody chose to ignore it.
When she was finished, Alessandro leaned back in the chair Rat had brought for him from in front of the writing desk.
He clasped his hands behind his head and mulled over Melody’s words.
“Tell me again how you met this Jemima Edwards,” he asked. With only a slight blush, Rat recounted how they had accidentally bumped into each other in the hotel lobby and subsequently gone out to a cafe one afternoon.
“Then, she turned up while I was at the Anglo-Continental Lending Library,” Melody interjected.
“I first became suspicious of her when I realised she could have slipped that cypher key into my jacket pocket.
So, when I knew she and Matthew were out this afternoon, I sneaked into her room and looked around.
“And found the newspaper clippings?”
“Exactly. Oh, and I had a long chat with her at breakfast the day before yesterday. She was curious about our travels, but not excessively so. Or at least, that’s what I thought then.
” Melody considered the conversation. “However, she was remarkably knowledgeable about the situation in Morocco and mentioned the gunboat in Agadir, but perhaps that simply means she keeps up with current events. Though, I did notice it at the time.”
They all sat in silence, reflecting on this information. Finally, Rat spoke up. “Let us assume for a moment that Jemima Edwards isn’t who she seems to be…”
“I don’t believe that’s an assumption any longer,” Melody interrupted.
“Alright. Jemima Edwards isn’t the innocent tourist travelling Europe that she claims to be. Then who is she? If Melody is right and Jemima put the cypher key in her jacket, then she cannot be a German agent, can she?”
Melody reflected on everything that had occurred over the past week.
More specifically, she considered William’s warnings about the reliability of Vermeer’s intelligence.
She was tempted to mention this to Alessandro, but then remembered how William claimed to have been sidelined from the investigation for raising the issue.
Deciding not to mention William yet, she agreed, “The cypher key helped us. Why would a German agent do such a thing?” Then, she thought of something.
It seemed an outrageous thing to suggest, yet it had to be said.
“Is it possible she works for British Intelligence and that neither of you has been informed?”
It was clear that Alessandro’s initial reaction would be to deny such a possibility. Rat’s expression showed he regarded the idea more favourably .
“Absolutely not!” Alessandro exclaimed, confirming Melody’s instincts yet again.
“Well, I didn’t know about you when we were in Venice,” Rat pointed out. “And we didn’t know about Somerset’s role in Morocco, and I’m quite sure he didn’t know about ours when we first met. It’s possible, isn’t it?”
Melody could tell that Rat wanted this to be a possibility, perhaps more than believing it could be.
If Jemima Edwards, or whatever her name turned out to be, was a British operative, then, while he might still feel like a fool for falling for her machinations, he at least would feel like a fool for the right reasons.
“Surely it could be the case,” Rat insisted. “She might work for the war office, for example.”
“I suppose,” Alessandro conceded. “Though, why would she slip us the information secretly?” No one had an answer for that, and so Alessandro pressed home his point.
“Until we know who she is, we need to assume the worst. While I don’t know why an enemy would give us the cypher key, that doesn’t mean that isn’t what happened.
Our identities have been compromised, and you are being watched.
We need to move you both out of this hotel immediately. ”
“Into your townhouse?” Melody asked in alarm. She would prefer not to have to cohabitate with Fatima if it could be avoided.
“No. If Jemima Edwards and whoever she is working for know about you and Matthew, it’s likely they are aware of me as well and that I’m being watched. After all, Melody’s bag was snatched on the way to my townhouse. While I wasn’t certain the robbery was connected at the time, now I’m not so sure.”
Alessandro explained that they all needed to move to a new location discreetly. He suggested they should not only keep their hotel rooms, but that Mary would stay in Melody’s and make herself more conspicuous than usual.
“Let Miss Edwards believe you are still here. Meanwhile, I have somewhere we can go. Pack a small bag with the essentials, including an outfit for tomorrow if you are determined to join us. I will return home and send Mustafa to meet you at the back of the hotel in an hour. It goes without saying, I am sure, but be careful and discreet. ”
Five minutes later, Melody had returned to her room and was consulting with Mary.
She explained she would be leaving the hotel but needed the other woman to stay on and pretend that both she and Mr Sandworth were still there.
It was likely that Mary had many thoughts about this plan, but she kept them to herself.
Then, Melody explained the costume she needed. Mary, an excellent seamstress, quickly described how Melody could appear authentic.
“So, you think my black dress will suffice?”
“Yes. It is conservative, but more importantly, plain and practical. Your hair needs to be pulled back simply so that it is completely out of your face. Oh, and I will give you pins, needles, and some thread. Put some of the pins in your cuff and perhaps thread a needle and place it somewhere obvious on the dress. A good seamstress is always ready to take up a hem, and I’m sure a costume mistress is no different.
Oh, and I have a hat and apron you can borrow. ”
Melody deferred to Mary’s expertise in this area, and they soon assembled a costume. Mary then packed a few more items of clothing, and Melody added her lockpicks and revolver to the bag.
“Miss Melody, please be careful,” was all Mary said upon seeing these.
“I promise. Now, Mary, I need you to be a bit more conspicuous in the hotel lobby than you have been. Perhaps go to the front desk and make some rather loud requests on my behalf. We have no idea if Miss Edwards is working alone. Regardless, you need to be evidence that I am still in residence.” Mary nodded.
Not long after, there was a soft knock on her door. It was Rat, ready with a bag of his own.
“Let’s slip out now while it’s quiet. We’ll go down the back staircase again and let’s hope we don’t run into anyone.”
“And if we do?” Melody asked.
“Let us just hope that we don’t.”
Fortunately, no members of the hotel staff were in sight, and the siblings managed to slip out through the back door of the hotel. Mustafa was waiting for them in the alley behind.
“Sidi Matthew and Lalla Melody, I am to take you to Sidi Alessandro,” the boy said, clearly proud of his role.
They followed Mustafa, who stayed away from main roads and intersections, anywhere they might run into Jemima Edwards. Soon enough, they were in a much poorer, working-class neighbourhood. They walked for a few minutes more before stopping at a rather dilapidated house.
Mustafa hurried up to the front door and knocked on it in a very particular pattern. After a few moments, Alessandro opened the door and quickly waved them in.