III
Tuppence was just emerging from the local lending library with whathad been recommended to her as a “nice book” clasped under her armwhen she was startled by a voice saying:
“Mrs. Beresford.”
She turned abruptly¹ to see a tall dark young man with an agreeable butslightly embarrassed smile.
He said:
“Er—I’m afraid you don’t remember me?”
Tuppence was thoroughly² used to the formula. She could have predictedwith accuracy the words that were coming next.
“I—er—came to the flat with Deborah one day.”
Deborah’s friends! So many of them, and all, to Tuppence, looking singu-larly alike! Some dark like this young man, some fair, an occasional red-haired one—but all cast in the same mould—pleasant, well-mannered,their hair, in Tuppence’s view, just slightly too long. (But when this washinted, Deborah would say, “Oh, Mother, don’t be so terribly 1916. I can’tstand short hair.”)
Annoying to have run across and been recognised by one of Deborah’syoung men just now. However, she could probably soon shake him off.
“I’m Anthony Marsdon,” explained the young man.
Tuppence murmured mendaciously³, “Oh, of course,” and shook hands.
Tony Marsdon went on:
“I’m awfully⁴ glad to have found you, Mrs. Beresford. You see, I’m work-ing at the same job as Deborah, and as a matter of fact something ratherawkward has happened.”
“Yes?” said Tuppence. “What is it?”
“Well, you see, Deborah’s found out that you’re not down in Cornwall asshe thought, and that makes it a bit awkward, doesn’t it, for you?”
“Oh, bother,” said Tuppence, concerned. “How did she find out?”
Tony Marsdon explained. He went on rather diffidently:
“Deborah, of course, has no idea of what you’re really doing.”
He paused discreetly⁵, and then went on:
“It’s important, I imagine, that she shouldn’t know. My job, actually, israther the same line. I’m supposed to be just a beginner in the coding de-partment. Really my instructions are to express views that are mildly Fas-cist—admiration of the German system, insinuations that a working alli-ance with Hitler wouldn’t be a bad thing—all that sort of thing—just to seewhat response I get. There’s a good deal of rot going on, you see, and wewant to find out who’s at the bottom of it.”

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