Operation Locksmith

By Hannah Howe

Eve’s War is a series of twelve novellas. Each book contains approximately 20,000 words and a complete story. Kindly note that the price throughout the series will be set at the minimum level and that Eve’s story arc will be concluded at the end of the series.

“I understand that you wish to return to France,” the man behind the mahogany desk said.

“That’s correct,” I said.

“Your motivation?” he asked, smoothing the corners of his moustache.

“To do my bit for the war effort,” I said, “to defeat the Nazis and to discover what’s happened to my husband.”

“It would be extremely risky,” the officious-looking man said, “suicidal even, for a lone woman to undertake such a venture. However, there is an alternative.”

“Alternative?” I frowned.

“Yes. We’ll parachute you in, as one of our people. Of course, you’d have to undertake training first. Rigorous training. Top secret training. If you fail, I’m afraid it will mean a spell in the cooler, possibly until the war is over.”

“The cooler?”

“But I trust it won’t come to that,” he said, ignoring my question. “When can you start?”

I began immediately. And during my training I met two people who would radically reshape my life - Guy Samson and Mimi Duchamp. I also discovered secrets about myself, abilities beyond my imagination. However, as the training heated up so the situations became all too real, until they reached a point where I had to kill, or be killed.

The books in series order:

Operation Zigzag
Operation Locksmith
Operation Broadsword
Operation Treasure
Operation Sherlock
Operation Cameo
Operation Rose
Operation Watchmaker
Operation Overlord
Operation Jedburgh
Operation Butterfly
Operation Liberty

• Language: English
• Publisher: Goylake Publishing
• Release date: Aug 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781838011819

Hannah Howe

Hannah Howe is the bestselling author of the Sam Smith Mystery Series (Sam's Song, book one in the series, has reached number one on the amazon.com private detective chart on seven separate occasions and the number one position in Australia). Hannah lives in the picturesque county of Glamorgan with her partner and their two children. She has a university degree and a background in psychology, which she uses as a basis for her novels.Hannah began her writing career at school when her teacher asked her to write the school play. She has been writing ever since. When not writing or researching Hannah enjoys reading, genealogy, music, chess and classic black and white movies. She has a deep knowledge of nineteenth and twentieth century popular culture and is a keen student of the private detective novel and its history.Hannah's books are available in print, as audio books and eBooks from all major retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Kobo, iBooks, etc. For more details please visit https://hannah-howe.comThe Sam Smith Mystery Series in book order:Sam's SongLove and BulletsThe Big ChillRipperThe Hermit of HisaryaSecrets and LiesFamily HonourSins of the FatherSmoke and MirrorsStardustMind GamesDigging in the DirtA Parcel of RoguesBostonThe Devil and Ms DevlinSnow in AugustLooking for Rosanna MeeStormy WeatherDamagedEve’s War: Heroines of SOEOperation ZigzagOperation LocksmithOperation BroadswordOperation TreasureOperation SherlockOperation CameoOperation RoseOperation WatchmakerOperation OverlordOperation Jedburgh (to follow)Operation Butterfly (to follow)Operation Liberty (to follow)The Golden Age of HollywoodTula: A 1920s Novel (to follow)The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War SagaRootsBranchesLeavesFruitFlowersThe Ann's War Mystery Series in book order:BetrayalInvasionBlackmailEscapeVictoryStandalone NovelsSaving Grace: A Victorian MysteryColette: A Schoolteacher’s War (to follow)What readers have been saying about the Sam Smith Mystery Series and Hannah Howe..."Hannah Howe is a very talented writer.""A gem of a read.""Sam Smith is the most interesting female sleuth in detective fiction. She leaves all the others standing.""Hannah Howe's writing style reminds you of the Grandmasters of private detective fiction - Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker.""Sam is an endearing character. Her assessments of some of the people she encounters will make you laugh at her wicked mind. At other times, you'll cry at the pain she's suffered.""Sam is the kind of non-assuming heroine that I couldn't help but love.""Sam's Song was a wonderful find and a thoroughly engaging read. The first book in the Sam Smith mystery series, this book starts off as a winner!""Sam is an interesting and very believable character.""Gripping and believable at the same time, very well written.""Sam is a great heroine who challenges stereotypes.""Hannah Howe is a fabulous writer.""I can't wait to read the next in the series!""The Big Chill is light reading, but packs powerful messages.""This series just gets better and better.""What makes this book stand well above the rest of detective thrillers is the attention to the little details that makes everything so real.""Sam is a rounded and very real character.""Howe is an author to watch, able to change the tone from light hearted to more thoughtful, making this an easy and yet very rewarding read. Cracking!""Fabulous book by a fabulous author-I highly recommended this series!""Howe writes her characters with depth and makes them very engaging.""I loved the easy conversational style the author used throughout. Some of the colourful ways that the main character expressed herself actually made me laugh!""I loved Hannah Howe's writing style -- poignant one moment, terrifying the next, funny the next moment. I would be on the edge of my seat praying Sam wouldn't get hurt, and then she'd say a one-liner or think something funny, and I'd chuckle and catch my breath. Love it!""Sam's Song is no lightweight suspense book. Howe deals with drugs, spousal abuse, child abuse, and more. While the topics she writes about are heavy, Howe does a fantastic job of giving the reader the brutal truth while showing us there is still good in life and hope for better days to come."

Book preview

EVE’S WAR

OPERATION

LOCKSMITH

EVE’S WAR

OPERATION

LOCKSMITH

Hannah Howe

Goylake Publishing

Copyright © 2020 Hannah Howe

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Goylake Publishing, Iscoed, 16A Meadow Street, North Cornelly, Bridgend, Glamorgan. CF33 4LL

Print ISBN: 978-1-8380118-2-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-8380118-1-9

Printed and bound in Britain by Imprint Digital, Exeter, EX5 5HY

Author’s Note

The characters in Eve’s War are fictional. However, all the stories and the incidents within these stories, from the personal to the public, are based on real events.

The series is structured into twelve books, each of approximately 20,000 words, set roughly two months apart. Within the back matter of each book, you will find potted biographies of the real heroes and heroines of the SOE, the people whom Eve Beringar, Guy Samson and Mimi Duchamp are based on. It’s been an honour to read about these incredibly brave and principled people. I hope you will enjoy their stories and the exploits of my characters in Eve’s War.

Hannah’s books are available in print, as eBooks and audio books with translations in progress

Eve’s War

Operation Zigzag

Operation Locksmith

Operation Broadsword

Operation Treasure

Operation Sherlock

Operation Cameo

Operation Rose

Operation Watchmaker

Operation Overlord

Operation Jedburgh

Operation Butterfly

Operation Liberty

Ann’s War

Betrayal

Invasion

Blackmail

Escape

Victory

Stand-alone Novel

Saving Grace

The Sam Smith Mystery Series

Sam’s Song

Love and Bullets

The Big Chill

Ripper

The Hermit of Hisarya

Secrets and Lies

Family Honour

Sins of the Father

Smoke and Mirrors

Stardust

Mind Games

Digging in the Dirt

A Parcel of Rogues

Boston

The Devil and Ms Devlin

Snow in August

Looking for Rosanna Mee

The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War Saga

Roots

Branches

Leaves

Fruit

Flowers

To my family, with love

Chapter One

I glanced at the calendar on my desk, which read 10th March 1943. The date reminded me that I’d been working as a secretary at the Air Ministry for exactly one month. In truth, I found the work tedious, monotonous, boring. Office life represented a comfortable routine of typing, filing and answering the telephone, a far cry from my days in Marseille assisting the French Resistance.

As I typed another memo about officers’ expenses, I wondered why the Air Ministry had been so keen to employ me. Maybe they wanted to keep an eye on me because of my involvement with the Resistance and subsequent escape from France. From my interviews with the top brass, I sensed that they trusted me – after all, I had helped well over a thousand airmen and soldiers to escape from France.

I was on probation. Therefore, it was only natural that my superiors should scrutinise my work. However, I sensed that someone was following me. Correction, I knew that someone was following me. In Marseille, the Gestapo had tailed me for months on end. Consequently, I knew how to look out for shadows.

The Air Ministry were prying into my private life. Why should my personal affairs interest them? If they were looking for a scandal, they were searching in the wrong place because, in London, I lived as a nun.

True, in Paris and Marseille, I’d flitted like a butterfly from party to party and lived life to the full. In truth, I didn’t miss those days, maybe because they were simply an expression of my youth, all part of growing up.

On my desk, the telephone rang. I removed my earring – a habit I’d formed since joining the Air Ministry – and spoke into the mouthpiece. Hello, Eve Beringar speaking; how may I help you?

Hello, Eve, a familiar voice said. It’s Vera. How are you?

I’m fine, I said.

Are they keeping you busy?

Very busy, I said. Typing pointless memos. But I let that pass.

In fairness to Vera Penrose, the memos were not her fault. Indeed, even though I found the work frustrating I needed the money and the sense of purpose. Therefore, I was grateful to her for securing my position with the Air Ministry.

Can you spare a moment? Vera asked. I’d like you to meet me, at 64 Baker Street. Take a taxi. We’ll cover the expenses. And I’ll clear everything with Major Basset.

I glanced across the office to Major Basset, my immediate superior, a man who did not suffer fools gladly. Indeed, Major Basset was a stickler for the rules and military discipline, not my strong suits, which meant that around him I had to curtail my natural exuberance, my sense of fun. True there was a war on, but if you couldn’t laugh, particularly at yourself, how could you live?

Into the telephone, I asked Vera, The meeting...what’s it all about?

I can’t explain over the telephone. Please meet me at 64 Baker Street. I’ll be expecting you, at sixteen hundred hours, sharp.

I made my excuses to Major Basset, who accepted them without batting an eyelid. Indeed, I sensed that he’d been anticipating this moment from the day I’d walked into the Air Ministry.

On the streets of Whitehall, I found a taxi waiting for me, so I climbed aboard and travelled north along Regent Street to Baker Street.

Along the way, I noticed the bomb damage on Regent Street, much of it due to the blitz of October 1940. Repairs were in evidence. People strolled along the street. Businesses were open. You sensed that the locals were up for the fight and wanted to carry on.

In Baker Street, I strolled towards number 64, a grey, five-storey office block. The building looked nondescript, yet Vera Penrose worked there. Indeed, much of her work was clandestine, so I wondered what skulduggery lurked behind the plain façade.

A black plaque on the wall announced that these were the offices of the ‘Inter-Services Research Bureau.’ That sounded like intelligence-speak to me, gobbledygook, a name to hide a multitude of sins.

Within the building, a wobbly lift took me up to the fifth floor and Vera Penrose’s office. Inside the office, I found Vera standing beside her desk, shuffling an armful of files.

In her mid-thirties, Vera Penrose stood around five foot nine inches tall. Smartly dressed in a tailored skirt-suit, sensible shoes and stockings, she possessed short, wavy hair, which framed a strong face. Her eyebrows were well defined while her eyes contained