Eye of the Needle

Bloggs is called to the countryside when five Home Guard men are reported missing. Faber’s boat is found by the search party, and a diver confirms that it was scuttled intentionally. Shortly afterward, the bodies of the five men are found. When Bloggs sees that several were killed with a stiletto, he knows it is the work of Faber. Bloggs returns to London, where Percy decides they have to put out Faber’s picture to more police stations, but that they should do it under the pretense of searching for a murderer. Colonel Terry comes to tell Bloggs and Percy that Faber got pictures of the fake FUSAG planes and that it would be disastrous if that information got back to Germany. Terry introduces the men to a man from the Portuguese Embassy who witnessed someone delivering an envelope to a known double agent in their employ. The man gives the envelope to Terry, who in turn gives it to Percy. Inside are the photographs Faber took.

Bloggs goes to the train station to try to find someone who might have seen Faber on the train. A clerk recognizes Faber and says he bought a ticket to Inverness. Percy places Parkin on the train dressed as a ticket inspector with instructions to search the passengers for Faber. Once he finds him, he is to stay near him until help arrives. Percy gives Parkin a gun to shoot Faber should Faber recognize Parkin.

Faber watches as the ticket inspector checks the tickets of the passengers around him. It is early in the morning, still dark, the darkness made more complete by the wartime rules prohibiting lights inside the train. Faber catches a glimpse of the inspector’s face in the light of the flashlight and recognizes him as another tenant in Mrs. Garden’s boarding house. Although he doubts it is the same person, Faber gathers his things and goes to the bathroom. He works out a plan and goes to the small space above the couplings between train cars. He lies down and pretends to be asleep. When Parkin comes, he rises with his back to him, holding the stiletto when he finally turns. He demands to know why Parkin is there. When Parkin refuses to tell him anything, Faber cuts his eye. Parkin tells Faber he is working with Percy and that he identified Faber in a picture. Parkin also confesses how they found Faber and that there is an ambush waiting for him in Glasgow. Faber kills Parkin and returns to his seat.

As Faber works out a plan, he thinks about Percy. He met him once before the war. He was touring the Canterbury Cathedral and met Percy as they both admired a singular Gothic arch in the south ambulatory of the choir. He also attended a lecture Percy gave. Faber finds comfort in the fact that Percy is an amateur. Amateurs make mistakes.

Faber gets off the train at Liverpool to avoid the trap in Glasgow. However, as he moves into the crowd, he sees the man who followed the German agent he was meant to contact back in London. Faber returns to the train, but then sees the British agent talk to the conductor and ticket inspector. Faber understands that they are going to search the train. He gets off the train on the wrong side from the platform and runs.

When Parkin didn’t get off the train, Bloggs knew something was wrong and ordered the search of the train. The searchers find Parkin’s body. Bloggs meets with the searchers, verifying they searched everywhere, when a passenger comes over and tells Bloggs that he saw Faber leave the train from the wrong side. Unbeknownst to Bloggs, Faber is hiding in the coal tender. Faber considers his next move and decides his best chance is to get off the train outside a small village. Faber leaves the train when it stops at a track junction. He goes into a small signalman’s cabin, cleans up, and steals a bicycle.

Percy is reflecting on his marriage, remembering how deeply he loved his wife and how her death devastated him. Percy believes this shared grief is what draws him and Bloggs together. Percy also recognizes that the war has breathed new life into him, and he hopes Bloggs finds something to do the same for him. As he is thinking this, Bloggs calls to tell him what happened on the train. Percy speaks with the local Chief Superintendent and instructs him to keep an eye out for any fugitive behavior, such as stolen food or clothing. He also asks him to keep watch for stolen vehicles.

Bloggs lies down in the chief superintendent’s office. His thoughts move to his wife, and he believes he will never find another woman as brave as she was. He sleeps briefly and is awoken up by the chief superintendent, who informs him of several crimes that have happened in the area, including the theft of a bicycle from a signalman’s cabin. Bloggs decides to go check out the bicycle theft while the chief superintendent gathers information on several robberies. When Bloggs arrives, he gets a call telling him that the burglar at one of the robberies used a stiletto. Bloggs rushes to that location. He learns from a pair of elderly sisters that a man broke into their home early in the morning and demanded clean clothes and food. The man also took their car.

Faber drives into Scotland, taking the back roads to Aberdeen. He is concerned with being stopped because wartime restrictions prevent people from traveling long distances. He comes up with a story, deciding he will claim to be a specialized engineer headed to a factory in Inverness. He’s upset to know MI5 has his picture.

The car breaks down outside Stirling. Faber abandons it on a dirt road and begins to walk. A car passes him at one point, but Faber hides from it. Only a few miles further on, he finds the same car pulled to the side of the road. The driver tells him that it lost power. Faber sees the problem and easily fixes it. The driver offers him a ride. The driver tells Faber he is a local magistrate, so Faber doesn’t need to worry about being stopped or harassed for papers. Faber uses his engineer story to explain his travel.

Faber takes a nap and dreams about getting caught while traveling by train. When he wakes, they are in Aberdeen. The driver drops him on a street corner. Faber spends the day on the beach, then steals a boat after dark. Faber sails into the harbor and heads toward the rendezvous point with the U-boat. However, a storm hits and causes high waves. The radio antenna is blown off. Faber hits his head when the boat is tossed around. The windows break, and water fills the cabin. Faber opens the cabin door, and the water goes out. The storm continues to get worse, and Faber has no experience sailing in such a storm. Eventually the boat is pulled apart and Faber finds himself shipwrecked on the coast of a small island. He manages to make his way to land, and exhaustedly walks toward a small cottage.

Lieutenant Commander Werner Heer is annoyed by Major Wohl, the intelligence officer on his U-boat. Heer believes the man they are to rendezvous with off the coast of Aberdeen will not venture out in the storm, but Wohl insists they follow their orders to the letter. When time is up, Heer wants to return to their home base, but Wohl asks him to go to the surface and look around. Heer refuses due to the storm. Wohl insists they signal their base to see if the command wants them to remain longer. Heer again refuses.