Operation Butterfly

By Hannah Howe

“It’s good to see you again,” Guy said, offering Monique a warm smile.

“It’s good to see you too,” she said. “It’s good to see that you’ve made it to Paris.”

As Guy and Monique exchanged pleasantries, I noticed a poster, pinned to a tree, a call to arms. According to the poster, presumably produced by the Resistance, the Nazis were in retreat and ready to abandon Paris. However, our intelligence and experience suggested that that was not the full story. Victory was within our grasp, but we needed to win more battles before we could dance in triumph. Indeed, the biggest battles of all probably lay ahead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Goylake Publishing
• Release date: Jul 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781739287771

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

Chapter One

23 August 1944

We were walking through the early morning mist towards the Parc Monceau in Paris. Eight months pregnant and feeling the strain, I trudged along, behind Guy, Mimi and Henri.

Major-General Colin Cunningham had ordered us to Paris. Our mission was to assist the Sherlock network by offering support to its leader, Monique.

We’d first encountered Monique a year ago, almost to the day. At that time, heavily corrupted due to a series of betrayals, the Sherlock network was in a state of collapse. However, through Monique’s excellent organisational skills, and bravery, she’d steadied the network and banished the corrupt elements.

Now, with the Allies storming through France and poised on the fringes of Paris, Monique required extra assistance, in the fight to achieve liberation, and in the struggle to prevent the various Resistance factions from infighting and self-destructing.

As the mist lifted, we witnessed evidence of street fighting in the shape of damaged buildings, burned-out vehicles and dead bodies, Frenchmen and Germans, men and women who’d sacrificed their lives.

The beauty of the Parc Monceau appeared incongruous in the midst of such slaughter. We approached from the Rue de Prony and took in the view.

Established in the late 1700s by Phillippe d’Orleans, Duke of Chartres, the park featured curved walkways, randomly placed statues and a number of follies. The follies included an Egyptian pyramid, a Chinese fort and a Dutch windmill.

Some irony was at play here because the Duke’s original intention had been to create an English-style garden, and to achieve that aim he’d employed a German landscape architect by the name of Etickhausen.

We met Monique in the shadows of a classical colonnade, a structure established in 1778. Red roses bloomed on the fringes of a lake, while the columns of the colonnade, along with an avenue of nearby trees, reflected in the water.

Monique had changed little over the past year. In her late twenties, she possessed wavy blonde hair, clear blue eyes and delicate facial features. Her looks and youthful frame offered an air of innocence. In passing, one might regard her as an angel yet, should the occasion demand, she had a mind and the skills to carry out the Devil’s work.

It’s good to see you again, Guy said, offering Monique a warm smile.

It’s good to see you too, she said. It’s good to see that you’ve made it to Paris.

As Guy and Monique exchanged pleasantries, I noticed a poster, pinned to a tree, a call to arms. According to the poster, presumably produced by the Resistance, the Nazis were in retreat and ready to abandon Paris. However, our intelligence and experience suggested that that was not the full story. Victory was within our grasp, but we needed to win more battles before we could dance in triumph. Indeed, the biggest battles of all probably lay ahead.

We mustn’t linger, Monique said. She adjusted her trench coat and beret, and stared at a statue, a structure that possessed large bulging eyes. In Paris, she frowned, even the stones have eyes, Gestapo eyes.

We followed Monique along the Boulevard Malesherbes. We were heading south. The mist was lifting. The buildings, and the evidence of their destruction, came into sharper focus. We strolled past a number of locals, people engaged in their daily activities. However, no Germans wandered into view.

As we crossed the Seine and headed into the Latin Quarter, I asked, Where are we going?

To the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Monique said.

I frowned. We’re going to borrow a book?

We’re going to meet the Resistance, Monique said. These days, the Resistance controls most of the public buildings in Paris. They’ve established a headquarters in the library.

I heard a rumour, Guy said, that the police are on strike.

That rumour is true, Monique said. A general strike was called five days ago. The police, postal workers and many others answered that call.

We paused on the kerbside and watched as a gas-fuelled car travelled along the boulevard. The car displayed flags, claiming allegiance to the Free French. People felt confident enough to display their allegiance, to claim victory, yet battles were ongoing. This sense of limbo, of ambivalence, offered the city a surreal air.

I’ve also heard rumours, Monique said, that the Allies plan to skirt around Paris and liberate the rest of France first.

Guy nodded. I’ve heard that rumour too.

Is it true? Monique frowned.

Guy shrugged. Your guess is as good as mine.

If the Allies skirt around Paris, Monique said, and encircle the city, the Nazis will destroy the infrastructure.

Guy paused to grant another gas-fuelled car the right of way. A hubcap on this car was dented and, as it turned, it offered the impression that the wheel was about to roll off.

Skipping across the boulevard, Guy said, I’m sure that the Allied commanders have taken everything into account.

Have they? Monique frowned. Despite our reports, I’m not so sure that they fully understand our situation, and how obsessed Hitler is of controlling every aspect of life here. If Hitler is denied that control, I fear that he’ll throw a tantrum.

If he can’t have the city, Guy said, no one else will have it.

That’s right, Monique said. That’s why it’s imperative that the Allies march into Paris first, and remove the threat of destruction, before moving on to liberate the rest of the country.

We arrived at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. The library was based on a collection established by the Abbey of Saint Geneviève, an abbey founded in the sixth century by Clovis I, the King of the Franks.

Situated adjacent to the Panthéon, the library was a large, impressive, foursquare building, Romanesque in style. I could picture myself sitting and drawing the building. But not today. Maybe when the last German tank had rolled out of Paris and the city was at peace.

Guards at the main door, Resistance fighters, recognised Monique and granted us access. We walked through the reading room with its vaulted ceiling, light-friendly arched windows and rows of highly polished tables to a room that the Resistance had converted into a makeshift hospital ward. From there, we entered an office equipped with telephones and monitoring equipment.

You have medical facilities here, Guy observed.

Monique nodded.