Operation Sherlock

By Hannah Howe

"Arthur is concerned about the Nazis' latest terror weapon," Guy said. "Rockets; they have the potential to cause death, destruction and chaos in Britain. He wants us to locate the launch site so that the RAF can bomb it."

"How do we achieve that?" I asked.

"The Resistance in Paris think that they have identified the site," Guy said. "Arthur wants us to confirm their suspicions."

"Why doesn't the local Sherlock network deal with this?" Mimi asked.

"Recently," Guy said, "the Gestapo captured their wireless operator. Their network is in chaos. Trust is at a low ebb."

I glanced at Mimi and noticed her pale, drawn features. As our wireless operator, she lived under constant stress; each transmission represented a moment of potential capture.

A trip to Paris sounded sublime. However, Mimi's troubled expression reminded me that we were travelling into danger, potentially to our deaths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Goylake Publishing
• Release date: Jun 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781838354831

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

SHERLOCK

EVE’S WAR

OPERATION

SHERLOCK

Hannah Howe

Goylake Publishing

Copyright © 2021 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: 978-1-8383548-4-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-8383548-3-1

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

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.

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

Stormy Weather

Damaged

The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War Saga

Roots

Branches

Leaves

Fruit

Flowers

To my family, with love

Chapter One

August 1943

I climbed aboard my bicycle and cycled two kilometres north, from Dol-de-Bretagne to Le Grand Frouville. There, I would rendezvous with my network organiser, Guy Samson, and our wireless operator, Mimi Duchamp.

We had a number of messages to send and decipher including a request from Maquis leader Maxime Durand. Durand wanted more weapons and ammunition. In fairness, while training his Maquis, we’d exhausted a large amount of ammunition mainly in the forests outside Dol-de-Bretagne. Without doubt, a request for more ammunition was in order.

Durand still resented my role as organiser and trainer of his Maquis, but he massaged his ego by stepping in at the end of each session to claim the glory. So be it. As long as his fighters were learning and in a position to respond when the Allies invaded, I didn’t care; I didn’t give a tinker’s cuss as they said back home.

We would also request a fresh supply of soap and toiletries. These were essential items in my book, not luxuries, and Major-General Colin Cunningham, codenamed ‘Arthur,’ was happy to accept this and humour me.

The old farmhouse at Le Grand Frouville was devoid of electricity. Therefore, a minimum of two people were required to operate the battery-powered wireless. Despite the lack of electricity, the old farmhouse had become a favourite of ours, an ideal transmission point.

The main argument in favour of the old farmhouse was its isolated location. Should the Gestapo appear on the horizon, we had time to hide our wireless and escape.

Through a shimmering heat haze, Guy cycled towards the farmhouse. He looked good, healthy, athletic, his body well toned from many hours spent riding his bicycle.

Under cover as an archaeologist, Guy visited many of Dol-de-Bretagne’s historical sites, gathering local intelligence along the way before relaying that intelligence to Arthur.

Guy propped his bicycle, an ancient white contraption with a distinctive dent in its crossbar, against a barn wall. Any problems? he asked.

None, I said. Everything’s in order.

Guy nodded and we entered the barn. Inside the barn, we removed a tarpaulin and bundles of hay to reveal the wireless and a pedal-powered generator.

The generator was a Heath Robinson affair constructed of a bicycle chain within a wood and metal frame. We positioned the generator adjacent to the door and adjusted its seat. Low to the ground, Guy would sit on the seat, his legs outstretched, and pump away with his strong arms.

While Guy tested the generator, Mimi arrived on her bicycle. Initially, under cover as a district nurse, she’d ridden around the countryside on an eye-catching bright red bicycle but, at my suggestion, she’d swapped that for a nondescript grey model.

Any problems? Guy asked.

Mimi shook her head and set to work, opening the wireless case to reveal a network of wires and coils. From her hair, she removed a red ribbon, unfurled it and studied today’s code. Squatting on a three-legged milk stool, she placed her keypad on an upturned crate and prepared to transmit.

Following our regular routine, I kept watch by the barn door while Guy pedalled and Mimi sent and received the messages. We had a window of twenty minutes, thirty minutes maximum, before the Gestapo could trace our signal.

With a transmission rate of twenty words a minute, Mimi was the fastest wireless operator in France. However, she’d slowed recently; the stress of potential discovery had taken its toll.

With our messages sent, we set about decoding Arthur’s replies.

What have we got? I asked.

Arthur is concerned about the Nazis’ latest terror weapon, Guy said, "a rocket that has the potential to cause mass death, destruction and chaos in Britain. Observers at the test sites say that these rockets arrive overhead, fall silent then drop from the sky. The sight of these rockets is