Shadows of War by Michael Ridpath

Schämmel?’
    ‘No,’ said Conrad. ‘Venlo would have been my first meeting.’
    ‘Hmm.’ Van tapped his desk with his pen. ‘Do you believe Schämmel was an impostor?’
    ‘Once again, I don’t know. That seems the most likely explanation to me.’
    ‘Is there a chance he might have been genuine?’ asked Major McCaigue. He had a deep rich voice with a trace of Ulster. ‘Perhaps von Hertenberg warned his superiors that there was a plot against Hitler, and they arrested Schämmel and our men as a result?’
    ‘I really don’t think so,’ said Conrad. ‘It’s not just a question of Theo being my friend. We know that Theo was prepared to risk his life last year to get rid of Hitler. Why betray a conspiracy that he is most likely at the heart of?’
    ‘I take your point,’ said McCaigue. ‘But our two countries are now at war.’
    ‘This is the most almighty disaster,’ Van said. ‘Stevens knows a lot – too much. He visited most of the Passport Control Offices in Europe before he took up his post in The Hague. After the Gestapo have got hold of him, we can assume that our European intelligence operations are blown.’
    ‘I did get a message from Theo just as Payne Best was about to pick me up to take me to Venlo,’ Conrad said. ‘He wanted to meet me in Leiden. I have no idea what he was going to tell me. Perhaps he was warning me.’
    ‘Go back to Holland and talk to him,’ Van said. ‘We need to know how much Stevens and Payne Best have told the Germans. We need to know whether Schämmel was genuine. We need to know whether the coup is going ahead. Did you hear about the Munich beer hall bomb?’
    Conrad looked blank. ‘Haven’t had a chance to read the paper in the last day or so.’
    ‘Hitler was speaking at a Party rally in a beer hall in Munich. Ten minutes after he left, a bomb went off. It would have killed him if he had stayed as planned.’
    ‘Who planted it?’
    ‘That is another question for Hertenberg. The Germans are saying it was us. They seem to be pinning the blame on “British secret agents”, meaning Payne Best and Stevens, presumably.’
    ‘Was it us?’ Conrad asked.
    ‘No,’ said McCaigue. ‘But was it the German generals? That’s the question.’
    ‘I’ll ask Theo,’ said Conrad. ‘I saw him in Leiden the day I arrived in Holland. He didn’t know anything about Schämmel at that point, but he did tell me the date of the planned coup. And the offensive.’
    ‘Really?’ said Van, leaning forward.
    ‘The fifteenth of November. Theo said that’s when the Germans will attack through Holland and Belgium, and that’s when the generals will strike against Hitler. Halder, the Chief of Staff, is going to arrest him.’
    ‘That’s less than a week away!’ said Van.
    ‘Is he certain about the coup?’ asked McCaigue.
    ‘Not entirely,’ Conrad admitted. ‘I mean he was sure that those are the current plans. But he’s not confident that the generals will see them through.’
    ‘And he said Holland as well as Belgium?’ McCaigue asked.
    Conrad realized that was an important point. In the last war, only Belgium had been invaded and Holland had managed to stay neutral throughout. But not this time, it seemed.
    ‘He did,’ Conrad confirmed. ‘I’m certain of that.’
    ‘Did he give any other details?’ McCaigue asked.
    ‘No,’ Conrad shook his head. ‘Just that it would be like 1914, only worse.’
    ‘He’s right about that,’ said Van. ‘Thank you, de Lancey. You have done a good job. Contact me or Major McCaigue from Holland directly if you need to, but bear in mind that anything you say might be overheard. Mrs Dougherty will give you the details. Otherwise report to me when you get back.’
    ‘And you had better stay clear of our people in The Hague,’ said McCaigue. ‘If they were not compromised before, they certainly are now.’
    ‘Stevens or Payne Best may have told the Gestapo all about me,’ Conrad said.
    ‘They may have,’ said