The Paris Agent

Manchester, England, 1970

Charlotte, a schoolteacher, has a beach picnic with her dad Noah and their dog Wrigley. Today would have been the 54th birthday of her mother, Geraldine. It is the first birthday since her mom’s death, and both Charlotte and Noah are struggling emotionally.

Noah tells Charlotte that he was recently looking at a photo of himself and his wife that was taken in 1941, shortly after he learned that his entire family was killed in the Liverpool Blitz. Geraldine helped Noah to process the death of his family. Noah tells Charlotte that he left school at age 16 to enlist in the army and qualified as a flight mechanic. In 1940, Noah’s plane was hit and his parachute blew him into the yard of a French farmer, who helped connect him to a resistance group. Noah was smuggled through a series of safe houses and met a female resistance operative. They escaped via the Pyrenees, essentially walking out of occupied France into the mountains of Spain. When he returned home, he learned that his parents and brothers had been killed. He was then invited to return to France as a Special Operations Executive. Charlotte is amazed that Noah never told her or her brother Archie about his intriguing younger days. He reflects that his time in the SOE was complicated and that Geraldine encouraged him not to think about things that upset him.

He has always told Charlotte that the scar on his shoulder was from a car accident, but it is actually from a bullet wound he suffered in France; he also had a skull fracture and developed considerable amnesia. The nurses were only able to tell him that he was brought in by someone named Remy. He does not remember who Remy is, but he would like to track him down and thank him. Charlotte thinks that this project is a good idea.

Charlotte calls her mother’s sister, Kathleen, who has never gotten along well with Noah. Kathleen and Charlotte reflect on how much they miss Geraldine, and Charlotte tells Kathleen about Noah’s idea for the project. Kathleen says that Geraldine would have hated it and states that Noah was a completely different man during the war years. Charlotte is curious about her dad’s history with the SOE and wonders if she should reconsider encouraging him to pursue this project.

France, 1943

Josie is sitting in the back of a small plane that is flying low and slow over enemy territory. The plane lands and comes to an abrupt stop, and the pilot tells her to run into the bushes. Two men run towards the plane with a woman on a makeshift stretcher. They load her onto the plane, which swiftly takes off.

Josie is ecstatic to see Noah (code name Marcel). She introduces herself with her operation name (Chloe). SOE agents are not supposed to be posted with friends; this is an unusual arrangement. They have to be careful that their existing relationship will not compromise their work. Chloe is supposed to pose as Noah’s wife. The other agent introduces himself as Adrien, the “pianist” or wireless telegraphy officer.

Chloe wonders how she and Marcel will appear as husband and wife. They were closely bonded by their experience of journeying through the Pyrenees and keeping each other alive. After returning to the UK, they kept in touch until he told her that he was recruited to a top-secret agency and would be out of contact. Chloe was introduced to Miss Elwood and Mr. Turner, and then Chloe started her own SOE training. Miss Elwood, who trains the female operatives, emphasized that all relationships between agents must be strictly professional.

Now, Marcel explains that Baker Street is worried about a large factory run by a local family. The Nazis took over the factory in 1941 to build tanks. It is also rumored that the factory will be used to create more munitions and rockets. Marcel and Chloe are supposed to destroy the factory. Chloe is supposed to work as a nanny for the family of the factory’s accountant.

Chloe has Coeliac Sprue (Celiac Disease), which has caused many health problems for her since she was a child. Despite not being familiar with children, she is sure that she would like to have children of her own someday. Marcel is confident that she will be a great nanny and a great operative. He thinks that she is very capable, and she feels grateful for his support.

Paris, February 1944

Eloise rides a bicycle taxi. She watches German citizens and wonders what they are doing. When she notices that the bicycle driver is not taking her directly to the station, she accuses him of riding for longer than necessary so that he can charge her more. The driver observes that she is not a true Parisian. She is frustrated that her French sounds accented and that her cover has already been blown.

Her train is about to leave, and all of the seats are full; she is invited to join the cabin of German soldiers and is forced to accept. She is furious that she will have to spend three hours with the enemy. She tells the soldier that she is traveling to Rouen to find her uncle. They all seem delighted to be in the presence of a woman. Many of them show her photos of their wives and children, and she recalls what it feels like to be a wife sitting at home while her husband is away at war. She misses her husband Giles, who was shot down in North Africa, and her son Hughie, who is with her mother in London. She tells herself that she cannot be distracted from her mission and motivates herself by thinking that the more efficient she is, the sooner she can wreak havoc on these men.

England, 1970

Charlotte is pleased about her dad’s enthusiasm for the research project, but after a few weeks, he gets frustrated and depressed when he still can’t find Remy. Charlotte reaches out to Harry Read, a history professor at Manchester University, and speaks to his secretary, Mrs. White, who insists that Noah should have received several letters from Harry inviting him to be interviewed for an archival program. Mrs. White tells Charlotte to contact a group of amateur historians who meet at a church. The history group is led by a former grad student named Theo Sinclair.

Charlotte and her dad go to meet the historians together. Theo enthusiastically agrees to help and is familiar with some of the people that Noah is looking for. Theo explains that he completed his master’s degree with Professor Read and recommends that Noah sit for an official interview. He is also curious as to why Noah did not receive the letters.

As Noah and Charlotte drive home, Charlotte wonders if her father has blocked out many of the things he is now trying to remember because they were so traumatizing. She believes that this is why Geraldine did not want him to pursue this project.

France, 1944

Eloise’s train arrives in Rouen. The German soldiers offer to give her a lift to her hotel, and although she is nervous about the prospect of spending more time with the enemy, she reasons that this will help her to clear the military checkpoint. She goes to her new apartment and sees the dropbox, a loose brick in the lane opposite her room. She is supposed to watch and see who turns up. The person who arrives for the letter in the dropbox is not the person she was expecting. She reflects that the sooner she completes her mission, the sooner she will be reunited with her son.