Hale stayed while Relf worked through the names in his notebook.
Later that evening, he explained the numbers.
"There were six of us at first. Eventually eight knew how the whole arrangement worked."
"Only eight?" Relf asked.
"Others helped. Some knew the boats, some the documents. People provided rooms or moved money. They didn't all need to know one another."
"But the eight did."
"Yes."
"All ringers?"
"That was how we'd met."
Their ringing trips had taken them between Britain, Hong Kong, France and Austria. Friendships formed, and people asked favours of friends.
At some point they began numbering themselves.
"Someone made a joke about a ring of eight," Hale said. "It stuck."
"And the inscriptions?" Eleanor asked.
"They gave us the keys. I worked out the messages."
Relf turned to a clean page.
"What number were you?"
"Two."
"Hart?"
"Eight."
"Were Michael Vale or Bull members?"
"No."
"Marris? Hatherley?"
"No. Knowing about it wasn't the same as knowing everything."
"Then give me the other names."
Hale looked down at his notebook.
"I will."
"Now."
He nodded, but kept his hand on the page.
"First, you need to understand what Eight did."
Relf waited.
"In the joke, Eight was the anchor. Like the tenor."
Martin sat nearby, listening.
"He gave the final confirmation," Hale continued. "We didn't move anyone until it came through."
"Why Hart?"
"It became his part of the arrangement."
"That put him in control."
"Eventually."
Eleanor looked at the copied message from Bull's notebook.
WED 2315 / 4 / WREN
"Where did the other numbers fit?"
"They told us who was responsible."
She pushed the paper towards him.
"This four?"
"Member Four."
Relf set down his pen.
"Wycliffe said it meant an identity package."
"That's what he was told."
"By someone in France."
"Yes."
"Was it also used as a package number?"
"I don't know what they called the service they sold him. In the messages we used, it identified the person arranging the movement."
Eleanor read the line again.
"Wednesday, eleven fifteen. Wren's Cut. Four responsible."
"Yes."
Relf picked up his pen.
"Who was Four?"
"Margaret Sayer."
He wrote the name and asked Hale to spell the surname.
"Is she alive?" Eleanor asked.
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Calais."
Relf looked up from his notebook.
"Then we'll start with her."