9

Tuesday, June 1, cont.

Adler agreed to let us accompany him along with Weber and Schmidt that night to his office. Schork, to his immense irritation, was not invited.

“I will update you in the morning,” the spymaster said firmly, smiling at the young man’s sulk. “If it is nothing, then you have been spared losing a night’s sleep. If it’s significant, we can brief the chancellor together. The fewer who know of this, the better. Don’t worry, you’ll get your share of the credit.”

Schork’s mustache quivered at Adler’s final remark, enough that I knew there was some truth in those parting words. The young man clicked his heels, bowed, and was gone.

“I think,” Adler continued, “that I should return to my office as though nothing was out of the ordinary. I can always call in my clerk to discuss something of little importance to keep up appearances.” Shaking his head, he sighed, “Herr Müller excels in such conversation.”

As agreed, Bell and I were waiting in the hotel lobby at eight o’clock when the rest of the party arrived together.

“I didn’t want us to be seen gathering outside the building, in case it was being watched,” Adler explained. “We will walk in together as though summoned to an urgent meeting and go directly to my office. Are you ready?”

“Aye,” Bell answered for us both. “Let’s be off.”

I sat across from Adler in the carriage, Bell by my side, while the two agents followed in a cab. “What do you expect us to find, Fraülein Harkness?” Adler asked.

“I believe your overlarge light fixture and new telephone have something in common. I looked for something that didn’t fit. Were the lights in your office replaced when you got the telephone?”

The spymaster’s eyes widened. “Just so! My worthless clerk was told it was to allow me to take better notes of telephone conversations. I feel like an idiot!”

The carriages arrived at that moment, and Herr Adler vouched for Bell and me to the surprised soldiers on security duty. As we approached the elevator, I said, “We should take the stairs.”

“Why is that, Fraülein Harkness?” Herr Weber asked. “I am quite capable of operating the apparatus.”

“It makes too much noise,” I said, with as much sincerity as possible.

Adler and his two agents shrugged and moved toward the stairs, while Bell did his best to hide his smile at my successful evasion of the suspended deathtrap.

When we reached the outer door of the security service office, Herr Schmidt opened it noiselessly with his key. Herr Adler’s key worked just as well on his own office, and we quietly trooped inside. The office was a snug fit for five people in the dark, as Adler forbade us from turning on the light. Schmidt pulled two candles out of his pocket and after lighting them, placed one on each end of the desk, then he removed his shoes before climbing atop his superior’s work space. Herr Weber handed him a screwdriver and soon the small chandelier was hanging two feet lower, suspended by its wires.

Weber handed up a candle to his subordinate, but it was difficult to make anything out of the darkness above by the dim, uneven light. Suddenly Schmidt froze, then bent down and gestured for Herr Adler to join him.

A casual observer would laugh at the sight of two distinguished German gentlemen standing close together atop a desk in their stocking feet, but there was no merriment in the room as the rest of us watched in silence while the two conferred in whispers.

Schmidt was replaced by Weber, whose eyes widened at whatever his superior pointed out to him. Then Bell clambered up and, after a brief glance, got down and grinned at me. “A master stroke,” he whispered.

Finally, I was allowed to ascend, and Adler pointed out a vague shape in the center of the hole above. Squinting into the shadows cast by the one candle, I saw a small, conical opening of dark metal. It looked familiar. Then I looked down and saw a similar device at my feet. A telephone mouthpiece.

After placing a rolled-up handkerchief into the hole, Alder descended, then motioned for us to follow him out of the office, still holding one of the two lit candles. Once in the outer room, he closed his door and led us to a far corner. Then to my amazement, he bowed and in a low voice said, “It appears you and Professor Bell are correct, Fraülein, and I can see why he brought you along. No eavesdropper adjacent to my office, but someone was listening in. The other end may be far from the chancellery building. Who knows how far the cable may run?”

He seemed surprisingly happy given the circumstances. “Imagine! Our enemies were able to listen to my conversations remotely. I admire their ingenuity. So much, in fact, that I am already imagining the possibilities!”

“What now?” I asked, in the same low voice.

“We trace the wire to see who is on the other end. Then we ask them what they heard, and who they told. We continue to follow that trail until we find the head of this particular cell. I will extract as much information from our enemies as possible, in payment for the two informants we’ve lost.”

I shivered at the intensity in Adler’s face, made more unsettling by the light of the flickering candle in his hand. “What will happen to those you catch?”

The spymaster showed his teeth. “We fight a war in shadows, but a war all the same. I will do my best to make an example of them. You have done your part, and have my thanks, but what happens next is none of your concern. I will recommend to the chancellor that you receive a bonus for your work, and then you must go. Your work here is finished.”

Bell’s brogue thickened in his anger, “So we’re being shown the doorrr, is that it? Mercenaries who’ve served their purpose?”

“I have deep respect for you, Professor, as well as growing admiration for Miss Harkness, but in essence your summary is correct. You came here to do a job, and that job is done. That you did it so quickly is to your credit and cause for proper remuneration, but it is my task to deal with the consequences of your discovery. Herr Weber and I have some plans to make. Schmidt will see you to the entrance and sign you out with the guards.”

Bell stalked out of the room, Schmidt barely keeping up, while I loitered a moment longer. Until now, the case had been an intellectual exercise. I shivered to think my solution could lead to the deaths of others. Like an archer whose bent bow has launched an arrow, the consequences were now beyond my control. I could only hope the targets deserved their fate.