Free Hitler's Spy by James Hayward

Wing. Gagen endorsed and served the 18B Order en route, whereupon Agent Snow became suddenly cooperative. ‘Just before we entered the prison Owens gave his
address as 12 Parklands, and added that a transmitting set would be found in his bathroom.’
    Despite this belated admission, Owens soon found himself cooling his heels in a spartan cell. Fellow 18B detainees ranged from suspect German nationals to Percy Rapp, a thuggish fascist taxi
driver whose regular visits to the German embassy had earned him a place on the Snuffbox list. For the most part, Mosley’s Blackshirts remained at liberty. With no idea of Owens’
whereabouts, Lily hurried back to Surbiton, reaching Myner’s flat at around five o’clock. ‘Three men have taken Arthur away,’ she told the tyro sidekick. ‘He told me
to tell you to get rid of that parcel in the bathroom.’
    Myner’s version of events was the work of a practised liar. ‘Although I was suspicious at the time, I buried the parcel in the corner of the garden. I now realise that my action was
indiscreet, but thought I was doing him a good turn owing to his domestic troubles with his wife. I now understand it was a transmitting set belonging to Owens. I had seen him tinkering with it in
the bathroom.’
    ‘Alex said he would help Arthur for my sake,’ agreed artful Lily, who helped Myner bury the set in a brown paper sack. ‘Then I went out for a walk.’
    Miss Bade was still absent when Gagen arrived at Parklands an hour later, accompanied by Tar Robertson and another MI5 officer, Colonel Adrian Simpson, the author of
Notes on the Detection
of Illicit Wireless
. ‘At first Myner and his wife denied all knowledge of Owens,’ noted Gagen. ‘Later they admitted he was living there as the husband of Lily Bade.’ A
thorough search of the flat failed to locate the transmitter, though a crude receiver, apparently constructed by Owens himself, was foundin the bathroom cupboard. After a
short, sharp interrogation, Myner broke down and led the intelligence men outside. ‘He pointed out the spot where we found the transmitting set in a paper carrier. By this time Lily had
returned to the house, and she and Myner were taken to Kingston police station, where statements were taken.’
    With the war just one day old, the Abwehr’s London stelle had collapsed like a house of cards. ‘The Germans refer to Snow as their number one man in England,’ Robertson
remarked wryly. ‘If this isn’t a bluff – which seems likely – then they are pretty badly off!’
    At Wandsworth, Owens languished in solitary confinement. Tuesday brought a visit from Robertson, Gagen and Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Yule, a coding expert attached to MI5, and the originator of
the RAF motto
per ardua ad astra
(‘through adversity to the stars’). After testing Snow’s proficiency in Morse, judged by Yule to be limited, the discussion moved on to
wireless procedures and the Abwehr organisation in Hamburg.
    ‘There’s a man called Theile,’ Owens lied smoothly. ‘He’s in charge of their radio section. As for the transmitter, I’m to send over the dope at four in the
morning, when everything’s dead quiet. Wavelength 60 metres. The operator on watch speaks English, to give an immediate reply.’
    ‘What dope do they want?’ asked Robertson.
    ‘Weather reports, like I told you people before. Visibility, wind speed, cloud cover and whatnot. Until I give the word there’ll be no bombs on London.’
    This bold assurance rang hollow, since wireless-equipped spies had suddenly become a matter of acute concern for Robertson and MI5. In the late afternoon of 4 September Bomber Command launched
its first daylight bombing raid on Germany, sending a mixed force of Blenheims and Wellingtons to attack enemy warships in Wilhelmshaven and the Kiel Canal. The result was a disaster, with seven
out of twenty-nine aircraftdispatched shot down, a crippling loss rate that nudged 25 per cent. Although determined