Breaking Enigma || The Imitation Game

◈ TWENTY-FOUR- The Spy ◈

The morning was going well. John and I had managed to decrypt two messages, but it just wasn't enough to suffice. Although, as I say this with optimism, it was a start.

Allany hadn't turned up and it was nearly midday. This agitated the Team, but it wasn't as if she was going to help out anyway. So, it didn't particularly matter that much.

The remaining five of us had a nasty shock when Commander Denniston had turned up to the Hut, followed by three stern and rather unfriendly-looking RMP officers. I'll admit: I spoke too soon when I said 'the morning was going well.'

"What's going on?" I asked the Commander, wondering whether his visit was related to something serious.

"Just searching for the root of a problem," he replied. "You see, there's been quite a fuss concerning Allany Turing-"

"You can say that again," John remarked.

"-And there is a certain aura about her," Denniston continued, trying his best to ignore John. "Something that's not quite right. Which leads me on to this," he held up a single sheet of paper. "An intercepted message from this morning. It was making its way to Moscow. And there is cause for concern that a certain female individual could be a spy; a spy right here, who works in this very room."

"Turing's insane, I'll give you that," I argued, speaking up since nobody as would. "But not insane enough to be a spy."

"Well, I'll be the judge of that," turning to one of the Military Police officers, Denniston gave a nod and the trio of men began to make their way over to Allany's desk.

They began pulling out the desk drawers, emptying out and mishandling the small amount of papers, rummaging through them.

"Wait!" I cried. Everyone except the officers turned their heads in my direction.

I looked to Denniston rather than the others. "Why would you be rummaging through her drawers if you yourself burned Turing's work?"

"One can do a lot of work in a short amount of time if there's a lot of effort involved," he answered nonchalantly. "And she's quite the brainiac if she puts her mind too it. Besides," Denniston focused his attention and gaze to the officers. "We can't be too careful."

I became silent, not knowing what else to say. The Team and I watched them demolish the tidiness of Allany's work and desk. Minutes later the woman herself stepped through the door, an expression of horror appearing on her face.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" She stormed towards us, but one of the officers stopped and forced Allany to do so too.

"That's my desk!" She exclaimed.

"Thank goodness," Denniston said with sarcasm and walking towards her, his eyes angrily fixated. "Be a pity if we were searching the wrong one."

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"There's a spy in Bletchley Park," he responded.

"Denniston thinks that one of us is a Soviet agent," Anthony interrupted.

"Why?" Allany looked at him in disbelief.

"Our boys intercepted this on its way to Moscow," Denniston handed the sheet of paper to Allany. "Look familiar?"

She scanned over what was written on it- a telegram of long strings of letters that ran down the entire page.

"... It's a Beale Cypher," she continued. "It's encrypted with a key phrase, from a book or a poem or..."