Eye of the Needle

The search for Mrs. Garden’s killer has made headlines in the newspapers, with the murder on the train fueling the interest. Over 100 men who fit Faber’s description are arrested, but most are able to prove they couldn’t have committed the murders. Only two men fit MI5’s description. One turns out to be a con artist and the other is a bigamist. Police officers go around the cities and show Faber’s picture, looking for someone who might have seen him recently. They have a positive sighting at a garage in Carlisle. Then they come across a young man, William Duncan, who found the car belonging to the elderly sisters abandoned on the side of the road. William didn’t report the car right away because he is developmentally delayed and mistakenly believed lovers were using the car for a secret rendezvous.

Percy goes home to bathe. He thinks about Die Nadel and the invasion of France. He recently began seeing a widow who has a 22-year-old son Percy knows is about to be deployed to France. This fact gives Percy more reason to find Die Nadel and stop him from sending his photographs to Germany. When Percy returns to the office, he learns about the discovery of the car and figures out that Faber must be headed to northeast Scotland. This information leads him to believe that Faber is attempting to return to Germany, but he doesn’t know how. As he thinks this over, Percy receives a phone call from a magistrate from Aberdeen. The magistrate tells him he gave a ride to Faber. Percy calls Bloggs and orders him to Aberdeen.

Faber wakes late in the evening and forces himself into a positive mindset, afraid of allowing himself to feel vulnerable. He checks on his film and stiletto, hiding them under the bed, then dresses and goes downstairs, where he finds Lucy and David finishing supper. Lucy gives Faber a bowl of soup and some bread that he eats quickly. Faber introduces himself as Henry Baker. He questions David about the island, learning that the boat only comes every two weeks and the only other way to contact the mainland is from Tom’s wireless radio transmitter.

Finished eating, the group moves into the living room. David at once excuses himself to go to bed. When he’s gone, Faber questions Lucy about her situation, pointing out that the unhappiness between her and David is obvious. He asks Lucy whether she is considering leaving David. Lucy asks if Faber has ever been married, and he says he doesn’t trust himself to love someone that much. This causes Faber to think about the few women he has known in his life. Working in espionage has caused him to be celibate, but he misses the intimacy of a romantic relationship.

Lucy asks Faber what he is thinking about, and he turns the question back on her, telling her he sees her finding happiness with a new man in the future. Lucy squeezes her whiskey glass so tightly that it shatters and cuts her thumb. Faber gathers supplies to bandage the cut, then excuses himself to bed. They go upstairs together and say goodnight. Faber tries to take her hand, but Lucy goes into the bedroom she shares with David without acknowledging him.

Bloggs arrives in Aberdeen and goes straight to the police station, where he meets with Detective-Chief-Inspector Alan Kincaid. Kincaid says the Aberdeen police have checked out the local hotels, boarding houses, and the train station. There were no signs of Faber. There were no stolen cars, no boats had left the harbors that were large enough for someone to stow away on, and no stolen boats had been reported. Bloggs suggests the owners of the boats hadn’t been to the harbor during the storm, so Kincaid calls the harbormaster and has him go to check on the boats. Bloggs then speaks to the magistrate, who describes Faber and tells Bloggs how Faber reached for his left forearm when he was startled awake. Bloggs assumes this is where he keeps the stiletto. The harbormaster arrives and tells them a small fishing boat is missing. The harbormaster tells Bloggs that unless Faber is an expert boatsman, he likely shipwrecked. Bloggs identifies three potential moves for Faber: either he left by land, is still in Aberdeen, or he stole the boat and left by sea. He orders Kincaid and his men to search for Faber with those three possibilities in mind.

Faber struggles to sleep, his thoughts going to his past lover. He thinks about his situation and decides he should attempt to contact the U-boat with Tom’s radio on Monday. He thinks about Lucy, and that brings him back to erotic thoughts of his past lovers. Lucy, too, is struggling to sleep. She thinks about Faber and aches to be close to him. After some internal debate, Lucy goes to Faber. They become intimate. Lucy sneaks out of his room early in the morning.

Faber retrieves his film and stiletto, hiding the film in the dresser and wearing the stiletto. However, he changes his mind and moves the film into his jacket pocket. He can hear the family going down to breakfast. He goes to the bathroom and readies himself for the day.

Rommel argues with General Guderian over the movement of troops. Rommel believes the invasion of France by the Allies will begin in Normandy. He wants more troops to be moved there. Guderian argues against this move and tells Rommel that he won’t be able to argue this point to Hitler either because Hitler is waiting for a report from Die Nadel.