In the week of April 30, amid wartime headlines, Benjamin Pennybacker stood at his Virginia home as Sandy Gilfoyle arrived with Hannelore Wolfe. Hannelore removed a suitcase and papers from the car while Sandy subtly steered her away so he could hand Pennybacker another suitcase and set the terms of the handoff.

Pennybacker, who had presided over a frantic but failed search for Hannelore after the Avallon flood and the exchange train’s departure, realized that her disappearance had been an Allied-adjacent maneuver by June Hudson and Sandy Gilfoyle. He recalled the hotel and train searches, Sabine Wolfe’s insistence that Hannelore had boarded, and the diplomatic pressure that forced the exchange to proceed without her.

Sandy explained that Hannelore carried a memorized code: a list of American sympathizers within the German diplomatic corps. He told Pennybacker she would sing the information in exchange for a dry tuna fish sandwich, implicitly obligating Pennybacker to shelter her and extract the intelligence. Pennybacker accepted the burden, planning to cloak her in bureaucracy to keep her safe.

Pennybacker sensed June’s unseen influence, noted she was unreachable at the Avallon, and briefly considered Tucker Minnick’s role. He asked Sandy if Tucker might appear next; Sandy deflected. Practical worries surfaced as Pennybacker contemplated preparing his house and routine for a child who would stay far longer than he first imagined.

They discussed the government’s interest in purchasing the water-damaged Avallon, with Sandy suggesting it would become a war hospital and calling it the end of an era. When Pennybacker asked after June and Tucker, Sandy refused specifics but imagined they had left together in June’s limo, traded down for a cash car, and driven south, perhaps to Florida, with June destined for something “big” and Tucker potentially facing the draft.

As Sandy departed, Hannelore, accompanied by the Wolfes’ terrier, stood quietly beside Pennybacker. He recognized her sadness without tears and, accepting the situation, welcomed her with a simple acknowledgment that it was now the two of them, foreshadowing a long guardianship rather than a brief interlude.