Page 33 of The Shadow Code (Heroes of War #3)
Muffled voices drifted down the hall. Her eyes flicked to the clock. Half past four. Enough. She pushed back her chair and headed for the kitchen. The kettle was on, whistling like a steam train.
At the counter, Margery – Lockwood’s secretary – stirred powdered milk into her enamel mug. ‘Rough shift?’ she asked.
Ellie gave a wry smile. ‘I think I’ve read every file since the Middle Ages.’
Margery laughed. ‘Wait until you reach the Romans. They were a conniving lot! You’ll be seeing spies in your sleep before long.’
Ellie laughed as a thought crossed her mind. Maybe that was the problem. She wasn’t seeing the spy.
Margery handed her a mug, eyes flicking towards the corridor. ‘Watch out. Granville’s on the warpath. Hurtled through here like a hurricane earlier. Someone misplaced an important file.’ She rolled her eyes.
Ellie blinked. ‘Granville?’
Margery nodded. ‘Tall. Dark-grey coat. Always looks like he’s just come from a funeral.’ She dropped her voice. ‘Or is about to cause one.’
Ellie gave a tight smile.
Margery added half a sugar lump to her cup. ‘Another factory went up in Woolwich last night,’ she muttered.
Ellie frowned. ‘Was it a direct hit?’
‘Pretty much. Arsenal’s gutted.’
Ellie stepped back into the corridor, tea in hand.
Instinct made her turn left instead of heading back to her desk.
At the far end, a man stood near the operations desk, speaking with one of the junior officers.
He was broad shouldered with short, neatly-combed sandy-blond hair and a clean-shaven face.
He turned slightly, half in profile. She caught a low murmur; measured, deliberate.
The voice didn’t spark recognition, but the tone made her pause.
‘They’ll remember the blast more than they’ll remember the war,’ he said.
The junior officer gave a nervous laugh, but Ellie felt her skin prickle.
What an odd thing to say . Then, when he glanced her way and their eyes met, she caught the predatory gleam in his gaze before he turned and strode away.
He must have been talking about the air raid too. Warning bells clanged in her head.
Back at her desk, she flipped through the clearance forms again.
One page caught her eye: a requisition order signed O.
Granville . She paused. The letter looked odd.
There was a straight vertical line on the left side as if someone had started to write a D and converted it to an O.
The ink was thicker there, overwritten. Her pulse quickened.
She circled the name lightly and turned the page.
***
That evening, while making dinner, Ellie listened to the wireless, pausing as a Glen Miller tune faded into a crackle of faint static. Then, a voice:
This is the BBC Home Service.
Heavy enemy bombing continued overnight across several sectors of the capital. In the early hours of this morning, bombs fell on industrial targets in the south-east, with significant damage reported in Woolwich.
A number of factory buildings have been affected, including a munitions works and a steel-casting yard adjacent to the Arsenal complex.
Fires were brought under control by five a.m., though local authorities report at least two casualties and several injuries among night staff.
Civil Defence teams remain on site, assessing structural stability.
Elsewhere, raids were reported in Battersea, Croydon and the East India Docks. Fire-watch teams have again been praised for their quick action and tireless efforts overnight.
We remind listeners that air raid precautions remain in effect across the capital. Please remain alert and continue to report any unexploded ordnance to your nearest ARP warden.