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January 1944, The House in the Woods, Buley, Hampshire.

Hardy Amies, the fashion designer turned Spymaster, has returned to the English countryside to see in the new year.

It's been nearly three years since Amies first came here to train SOE agents for covert operations in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Now, in the office's mess building, he and several other section chiefs are raising a glass

to the coming year, and hoping that 1944 will bring an end to this long and brutal war.

George, the stooped man who inducted Amy's into the SOE, leans in.

So, Hardy, tell me.

How are things over at Baker Street?

Amy's grimaces.

Since he assumed leadership of T-section,

the SOE department that runs operations in Belgium, he has lost several agents

to prison camps or the morgue. But he hopes that's now in the past. T-section recently received

reports confirming the assassination of Prosper De Zeta, the notorious Nazi collaborator who has lured dozens of downed allied airmen

into enemy hands. We've had our share of challenges, but recently, I'm pleased to say, things have

started to go our way.

Amies takes a sip of his gin, hoping that vague reply will be sufficient.

George, however, keeps staring at Amies.

Operation Ratwick, you mean?

Amies let slip a look of surprise.

Operation Ratwick's campaign of assassination in Nazi-occupied Europe is supposed to be top secret. The operation sought to kill leading informants and collaborators and strike fear into

those who work with the Nazis. Officially, T-section didn't take part because Belgium's government

...