Chapter 10: London Comes Through

On the following night, as prearranged, LeBeau and Newkirk took the fliers to meet the Underground. The mission went without incident.

When they were through, Newkirk and LeBeau returned to the tunnels. Kinch was sitting expectantly beside the radio. Carter was upstairs with Hogan.

"Still no news from London?" a worried Newkirk asked.

"Not yet," Kinch replied, sadly shaking his head.

"What can be taking so long? It's been nine days now," protested LeBeau.

"You heard Wembley. They're trying to be thorough," Kinch answered. "We're just going to have to wait till they're done."

"Right. Well, they've got the easy part," declared Newkirk, as he headed off to change outfits. LeBeau followed, leaving Kinch behind to wait for the message that would not come through that night.

- - -

Finally, on the tenth night after the investigation began, Kinch came upstairs. "London wants to speak with us," he told Hogan and the other three members of the crew.

The five of them went to the radio room. "This is Colonel Wembley," came the voice over the radio. "We wanted to let you chaps know that we finished the investigation."

"And?" Hogan prompted, noticing that the members of his crew seemed as nervous as he was.

"You have been cleared completely," Wembley assured him.

This announcement brought cheers from the listening heroes. When things had quieted a little, Hogan asked, "Did they discover who was behind it? Learn the reason why?"

"Yes, to both questions," Wembley replied. "The list you compiled helped tremendously. The guilty parties weren't listed, but the mastermind's sister was."

Hogan appeared puzzled. "Sister?"

"Right. Lady Valerie Stanford's(1) brother hired the three chaps to make the accusations against you. He wanted revenge. Blamed you for his sister's downfall. We've been trying to arrange an exchange for months but the Gestapo won't budge."

"And it took this long to uncover his plot?"

"The fellow covered his tracks jolly good. Made it nearly impossible to discover his part in it. Most of the investigators would have given up two days ago. There would have been no proof of your guilt, but some would always question your loyalty. This young chap of ours had volunteered to help. Wouldn't hear of dropping the thing. Pressed on and discovered the link."

"I'd like to thank him sometime," Hogan said.

"I can put him on now. He's right here. Lieutenant."

The lieutenant came over and accepted the mike from Wembley.

"Thanks for seeing that I was cleared," declared a grateful Hogan. "It means a lot. To all of us."

"Right you are, Old Man," the lieutenant agreed with Hogan's last statement. "When I spoke with your sergeant early on, he had a lot of faith in you. From what I hear, you chaps are doing a smashing good job over there. Helping others to freedom. Sabotaging Jerry's factories."

"We try to keep busy," quipped Hogan.

"Ah, the famous Hogan wit. Clever as Rodney said it was."

The shocked tone in Hogan's voice matched the look on his face. There was only one Rodney that came to mind. "Rodney! Not Colonel Crittendon!"

"Right you are, Old Man," the lieutenant affirmed.

"You know Rodney Crittendon?"

"You could say that, what? Ah, but we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Lieutenant Ashley Crittendon."

LeBeau looked at Newkirk. "Is England's military crawling with Crittendons?" he asked, knowing there were at least two Colonel Crittendons and now a lieutenant.

"Seems so," replied Newkirk.

"Family?" Hogan guessed, over the radio.

"My big brother, actually," was the answer Hogan received. "Very impressed with your organization. Speaks quite highly of you lot. Another reason I was confident of your innocence. Had to prove it, what?"

"Glad you succeeded. Would have been a bit of a problem if you hadn't."

"Anytime. Your sergeant, the one they put in charge, I'd like to chat with him, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Hogan agreed. "Carter." Carter took the mike that Hogan offered.

"You wanted to speak with me," Carter stated.

"Right you are. Had a question I wanted answered. Know your last name, first initial. Your first name happen to be Andrew?"

"Yeah," replied Carter, wondering what this was about.

"Hadn't made the connection before. Your being a sergeant now, not a lieutenant. You're Dandy Andy, aren't you?"

Carter winced, wishing he could fade into the background. That was one experience he would like to forget.

"Dandy Andy?" echoed LeBeau, stepping closer to Carter.

"Flashy Ashley?" Carter guessed, the trepidation obvious in his voice.

"Right you are," came the voice over the radio.

Newkirk, meanwhile, moved in towards Carter from the other side. "Flashy Ashley?" Newkirk inquired.

Carter winced some more but remained silent.

"When you make it back to London, look me up," Lieutenant Crittendon invited. "I'll arrange another double date. Make sure they're not the Air Marshal's daughters, this time."

"Air Marshal's daughters?" repeated Newkirk and LeBeau, in unison. Unlike Carter, they were definitely enjoying themselves.

"By the by, Roxanne got married several months back. Expecting her first child now," Lieutenant Crittendon explained. "Tiffany? Spoke with her at the wedding. Hasn't forgotten you. Still thinks you're rather cute."

Kinch gazed unconvincingly at Carter and remarked, "Cute?" Then, he nodded his head and in a doubtful tone added, "Uh-huh."

"Nice chatting with you, Old Boy. But Colonel Wembley is signaling that he would like to speak with your colonel again," declared Lieutenant Crittendon

"Right. I'll put him on," Carter responded, more than a little relieved to end the conversation. The mikes changed hands at both ends of the connection.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to prosecute the guilty chaps," Wembley revealed.

Hogan was livid. "What! After everything we've been through?"

"Sorry, Old Man. If we did, we'd risk exposing your entire operation. Couldn't have that now, could we?"

Even though he could understand the risk, Hogan was still annoyed. "So, they're going to get away with it? Maybe even try it again if they please?"

"Not likely to happen," Wembley informed him. "Not after the chat Air Marshal Woodhouse gave them. He told them that if they caused any more problems in future, all attempts for Lady Stanford's release would cease immediately. Also, told them we'd come up with some bogus charges of our own to keep them under wraps till the end of the war."

"Now, we're just supposed to return to business as usual? As if none of this ever happened?" Hogan concluded.

"If you mean that you are no longer being detained and are back in charge, you are correct," answered Wembley. "We'll be in touch when a mission comes up."

"Well, it's not exactly going to be as usual," insisted Hogan.

Wembley was puzzled. "How so?"

"I'm going to have to talk Klink into suspending LeBeau's and my sentences. We've still got the remainder of our thirty days confinement to barracks hanging over our heads."

"You'll think of something," Wembley assured him. "Always do. Good luck, Old Man. Mama Bear signing off."

"Thanks a lot," acknowledged Hogan, the tone of his voice indicating that he still was not totally pleased with the outcome. "Papa Bear signing off."

Hogan sighed, placed the mike on the table and turned the radio off.

"Congratulations, Gov'nor," said Newkirk. "Even if they're not prosecuting the guilty chaps, at least you've been cleared."

"Doesn't seem fair," Kinch agreed. "But they're right about one thing. We don't want our operation exposed. I'm just glad that Lieutenant Crittendon insisted on continuing the investigation till you were cleared. Wouldn't have looked good with those charges hanging over your head."

"He's right about that," stated LeBeau. "And to think you owe it all to a Crittendon."

"Don't remind me," Hogan pleaded.

"I'm glad you're back in charge, Sir," Carter declared. "And that Ashley was able to prove your innocence."

A sparkle came to Newkirk's eyes as he looked at Carter and remarked, "Yes, Flashy Ashley. Now, Dandy Andy, you've got to tell us. What's this story about you, Flashy Ashley and the Air Marshal's daughters?"

Carter's face turned a bright red but he remained silent.

"You know, we're going to get it out of you sooner or later, mon ami," warned LeBeau.

Finally, Carter spoke. "Well, it's going to be later. Much later," he insisted.

"Yep. And Tiffany still thinks you're cute," Kinch reminded him.

Carter headed for the ladder and proclaimed, "I'm not talking."

Hogan grinned as he watched Carter start up the ladder, the others close on his heels. Contrary to Carter's protests, he figured they would get the full story sooner rather than later. Probably much sooner than Carter expected. From an earlier conversation with Carter, he figured there was much more to this tale than the others realized. Like the reason for Carter's demotion. And from what Carter had said, he believed General Boland was also involved in some way.

The grin on Hogan's face broadened as he, too, walked towards the ladder. First, he'd come up with a plan for having Klink suspend LeBeau's and his sentences. Then, he'd join the others in pestering Carter for information. With all of them working at it, Carter wouldn't have a chance. They'd have the whole story in no time. Should prove quite interesting and a nice relief from the tension of the last several days. Things were definitely looking up.

(1) The Big Dish

Author's Note: For those who are interested, I plan to write what will probably be a single chapter, stand-alone story in which Carter reveals the tale of his demotion to the others.