Eye of the Needle

A British naval ship settles off the coast of Storm Island. The captain instructs his first mate to keep an eye out for a U-boat. He also tells them they will send a launch party to the island as soon as the storm ends. They also attempt to contact the wireless transmitter on the island, but do not get a response. At the same time, the crew of a Coastguard cutter are below decks discussing the reason they are about to travel to Storm Island. One man bets the others that they are looking for an escaped prisoner of war. The leader of an air force squadron instructs his men that they are to fly in formation over Storm Island and look for a U-boat. Bloggs is introduced to the pilot who will fly him to Storm Island as soon as the storm ends. Percy and Terry review the ships and planes they’ve sent to Storm Island, deciding they’ve done all they can.

Lucy busies herself with chores, making lunch for herself, Jo, and Faber. She sneaks one of David’s sleeping pills and cuts it in half to give to Jo. After lunch, she gives Jo a book and sends him to bed while she shares a cup of coffee with Faber. Once Jo is asleep, she takes Faber upstairs and becomes intimate with him. Afterward, she says she wants a cup of tea and goes down to the kitchen. There, she dresses quickly in clothing she previously stashed there, then gets Jo. She rushes out to the garage and drives away as Faber comes to the door. Faber chases after them, grabbing onto the jeep. Lucy pokes him in the eye to force him off.

Lucy is halfway across the island when the jeep runs out of gas. There is a gas can in the jeep and she goes to fill it, but then decides to use it to sabotage the jeep, hoping Faber will attempt to start the jeep and blow himself up. She walks the rest of the way to Tom’s cottage. When she goes inside, she finds Tom dead upstairs. She goes into the bedroom to use the wireless radio transmitter but doesn’t know how. She does manage to send an SOS with morse code. Faber arrives in the jeep, clearly having figured out the sabotage.

Lucy’s SOS was heard by a RAF corvette, an MI8 listening post, the Coastguard cutter, and the German U-boat. Percy is informed about the SOS, and this confirms to him that Faber is on the island. He calls Bloggs to let him know.

Lucy confronts Faber through the window, telling him to back off or she’ll shoot him. Faber tries to convince her they love each other. Lucy fires over his head and Faber retreats to the jeep, driving away. Lucy reloads both Tom and David’s shotguns, nails the windows closed, and nails wood braces on the doors. She returns to the transmitter and repeats her SOS call. She studies the transmitter and tries to figure out how it works. The dog begins to bark, distracting her. She goes downstairs and walks around the house. Faber talks to her, trying to sweet talk her into letting him into the house. She unnails one of the windows and pushes the dog outside before nailing the window again. She hears the dog attack Faber. Silence follows, then Faber throws the dead dog through a window. He attempts to climb in through the broken window, but Lucy uses the ax to cut off several of his fingers. She returns to the transmitter and again attempts to figure it out. She turns the dial to transmit and asks if anyone is listening. She switches it back to receive and a man responds. Lucy begins to cry.

Percy is waiting for information with Terry. A call comes in telling him that they have made contact with a woman on Storm Island, but she’s crying and won’t speak. They patch Percy into the radio transmission. Percy explains to Lucy how the transmitter works. Lucy tells him about the stranger who was shipwrecked on the island and how he killed her husband and Tom. Percy tells her help is coming, but they have to wait for the storm to pass. Percy also urges Lucy to destroy the transmitter. Percy then calls Bloggs to tell him what they know. Bloggs tells Percy the storm has ended, and they are about to take off. The naval ship also sends a landing party. On the U-boat, Wohl instructs the captain to surface, but the captain insists on waiting until the appointed time.

Faber throws a Molotov cocktail through a window downstairs. As Lucy focuses on putting out the fire, Faber climbs into the house through an upstairs window. Lucy rushes upstairs to find Faber holding Jo. She puts down the gun and Faber releases Jo. Percy calls Lucy over the transmitter and Faber responds. Lucy leaves the room, putting together what Percy told her and the contents of Faber’s pocket she saw the night before, realizing he must be a German spy. She knows she must stop him from using the transmitter. Lucy removes the lightbulb from the kitchen light and sticks her fingers into the socket, shorting out the electricity in the house.

Faber goes downstairs and finds Lucy unconscious on the floor. When she comes to, he confronts her, then spots the U-boat surfacing in the harbor. He runs out of the cottage. Lucy follows and sees him attempting to climb down the cliff. She digs up a large rock and throws it at him, causing him to lose his grip. He falls to the rocks below.

The naval landing party arrives as Bloggs’s plane lands on the water. Bloggs is taken to the cottage and sees the aftermath of Lucy’s fight with Faber. Lucy tells him everything that happened, and Bloggs is impressed with Lucy’s heroism. Bloggs goes upstairs and speaks to Percy on the transmitter, telling him that Faber is dead and did not contact the U-boat.

Hitler is told that Die Nadel was unable to make his rendezvous because British police were in the area looking for a smuggler. Instead, he sent a wireless message that confirms Patton’s FUSAG is assembling in East Anglia and will attack Calais on June 15. Hitler tells Admiral Puttkamer and asks him to inform Rommel and Rundstedt he will not be moving the panzer divisions to Normandy.

In 1970, Jo and his family, a wife and two children, visit his parents. His father, Frederick Bloggs, is upset that Germany defeated England in the soccer quarterfinals of the World Cup. Bloggs tells his grandson, Davy, that he used to hunt Germans during the war. Bloggs says that they tricked the Germans by making them think they would attack in Calais, but they actually attacked Normandy. He says there was a spy who tried to warn the Germans, but Davy’s grandmother killed him before he could. Lucy comes out of the kitchen and chastises Bloggs for telling the story although Bloggs argues that she should be proud of what she did.