Who is this assassin? How did he get there? Why is he hunting them? How does he seem to know what she is thinking, what she intends to do next? What does he know of Ned ... ? Thoughts repeated. For Veronica there are no answers. There is only a momentary flash high up among branches and leaves, the sun glinting off lenses or metal, a dull report rolling across the water chasing fragments of dugout that sting her arms and legs each time her chin drops to her chest and fatigue threatens to overcome her. Are they being driven ... herded ... into a trap or simply toyed with?

Ok, so much for an opener to an episode where Marguerite's past catches up with her threatening Veronica as well. The key to the identity of the shooter is, of course, embedded in Krux's fevered flashbacks.

Coming up with a plausible past for Marguerite, keeping in mind that MK is running because of what she supposedly did at Jutland, took considerable effort.Most of the information presented in the following paragraphs is based on fact and indicate a way in which Krux might have curried disfavor among her peers.

Let's suppose that Marguerite only spent part of her time in German occupied territory during the war. Her major contribution was made in England in 1914 - 16. She was among the female college graduates recruited to staff Room 40, the Admiralty's decoding section ( Naval Intelligence ). Most of these girls were young. Their job was to process intercepted messages. Her best friends were Dilly Knox, David Evan - Thomas, and Olive Roddam, daughter of Lt.Col. Roddam. It isn't long before Marguerite is given additional responsibilities. Her facility with languages enables her to reconstruct German codes using weather reports and telegrams transmitted by Nordeich and Brugge relay stations.This really doesn't prove much of a challenge as those staffing the former don't bother to encipher letters and numbers used to indicate the direction and strength of the wind. Brugge transmits coded and plain copies of the same message.Still entire codes must be reconstructed and much of the credit goes to Marguerite. By 1914, the German codes are known. By 1915, Krux is in charge of all intercepts coming in from a number of "Y" intercept stations on the Irish coast and several amateur stations in London, to include that of a lawyer, Russell Clarke. She establishes a secret station in Norway. Her stations are among those equipped with Marconi direction finding gear able to intercept signals from U - boats, transform them into bearings, and thus into positions. Transmissions from German ships and submarines are broad band. Marguerite's staff experience little difficulty in intercepting them. Positions of ships are plotted on a great map in the operations section of Room 40. Submarines are marked with a red square covering 32 miles square distance. These include arrows indicating direction of travel. In 1916, when the German High Seas Fleet Leaves Jade prior to the engagement at Jutland, Room 40 knows all about it well in advance.

Krux is a favorite of Vice - Admiral Rheinhard Sheer. She knows that Sheer's plan is to lure, trap, and defeat small units of the British fleet because it is larger than his own. Assuming a double life in Germany, she learns from an intelligence officer That German U - boats have been strategically placed so that they can attack the British Grand Fleet when it leaves harbor, but that these submarines can only remain on station until June 1. The German fleet leaves on the 30th of May to draw out the British.

Of the four friends, David Evan - Thomas is seriously in love with Marguerite, but she doesn't share his feelings. Dilly and Olive plan to marry ( actually did in real life ). They enjoy many weekends on David's father's estate. For the purposes of the story,Evan - Thomas is assigned to the Black Prince, a British cruiser, with a refined long distance intercept device.

My mission now is to figure out why and how Marguerite could arrange it so that the British fleet could pass through the submarine screen unharmed ( historically they didn't attack as they should have when the British fleet left port ), and how and why she would use U - 32 and U - 66, enemy submarines, to sink the Black Prince, killing her friend and hundreds of British seamen.
Helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
Steve Faust