Dieter cursed under his breath. This could ruin everything. He almost hoped that no British agent would come today.
Looking along the north aisle, he saw a young man carrying a small suitcase. Dieter narrowed his eyes: most of the people in the church were older. The man was wearing a shabby blue suit of French cut, but he looked like a Viking, with red hair, blue eyes, and pale pink skin. It was a very English combination, but could also be German. At first glance, the young man might be an officer in mufti, seeing the sights or even intending to pray.
However, his behavior gave him away. He walked purposefully along the aisle, neither looking at the pillars like a tourist nor taking a seat like a worshiper. Dieter's heart beat faster. An agent on the first day! And the bag he carried was almost certainly a suitcase radio. That meant he had a code book, too. This was more than Dieter had dared to hope for.
But Weber was here to mess everything up.
The agent passed Dieter and slowed his walk, obviously looking for the crypt.
Weber saw the man, gave him a hard look, then turned and pretended to study the fluting on a column.
Maybe it was going to be all right, Dieter thought. Weber had done a stupid thing in coming here, but perhaps he was just planning to observe. Surely he was not such an imbecile as to interfere? He could ruin a unique opportunity.
The agent found the crypt gate and disappeared down the stone steps.
Weber looked across the north transept and gave a nod. Following his gaze, Dieter saw two more Gestapo men lurking beneath the organ loft. That was a bad sign. Weber did not need four men just to observe. Dieter wondered if he had time to speak to Weber, get him to call his men off. But Weber would argue, and there would be a row, and then- As it turned out, there was no time. Almost immediately, Stephanie came up from the crypt with the agent right behind her.
When she reached the top of the steps she saw Weber. A look of shock came over her face. She was disoriented by his unexpected presence, as if she had walked on stage and found herself in the wrong play. She stumbled, and the young agent caught her elbow and steadied her. She recovered her composure with characteristic speed and gave him a grateful smile. Well done, my girl, Dieter thought.
Then Weber stepped forward.
"No!" Dieter said involuntarily. No one heard him.
Weber took the agent by the arm and said something. Dieter's heart sank as he realized Weber was making an arrest. Stephanie backed away from the little tableau, looking bewildered.
Dieter got up and walked quickly toward the group. He could only think that Weber had decided to grab the glory by capturing an agent. It was insane but possible.
Before Dieter got close, the agent shook off Weber's hand and bolted.
Weber's young companion in the check jacket reacted fast. He took two big strides after the agent, flung himself forward in a flying tackle, and threw his arms around the agent's knees. The agent stumbled, but he was moving strongly, and the Gestapo man could not hold him. The agent recovered his balance, straightened up, and ran on, still clutching his suitcase.
The sudden running steps, and the grunts made by both men, sounded loud in the hushed cathedral, and everyone looked. The agent ran toward Dieter. Dieter saw what was going to happen and groaned. The second pair of Gestapo men stepped out of the north transept. The agent saw them and seemed to guess what they were, for he swerved left, but he was too late. One of the men stuck out a foot and tripped him. He fell headlong, his chunky body hitting the stone floor with a thwack. The suitcase went flying. Both Gestapo men jumped on him. Weber came running up, looking pleased.
"Shit," Dieter said aloud, forgetting where he was. The mad fools were ruining everything.
Maybe he could still save the situation.
He reached into his jacket, drew his Walther P38, thumbed the safety catch, and pointed it at the Gestapo men who were holding the agent down. Speaking French, he yelled at the top of his voice, "Get off him now, or I shoot!"
Weber said, "Major, I-"
Dieter fired into the air. The report of the pistol crashed around the cathedral vaults, drowning Weber's giveaway words. "Silence!" Dieter shouted in German. Weber looked scared and shut up.
Dieter poked the nose of the pistol hard into the face of one of the Gestapo men. Reverting to French, he screamed, "Off! Off! Get off him!"
With terrified faces the two men stood up and backed away.
Dieter looked at Stephanie. Calling her by Mademoiselle Lemas's name, he shouted, "Jeanne! Go! Get away!" Stephanie began to run. She circled widely around the Gestapo men and dashed for the west door.
The agent was scrambling to his feet. "Go with her! Go with her!" Dieter shouted at him, pointing. The man grabbed his suitcase and ran, vaulting over the backs of the wooden choir stalls and haring down the middle of the nave.
Weber and his three associates looked bemused. "Lie facedown!" Dieter ordered them. As they obeyed, he backed away, still threatening them with the gun. Then he turned and ran after Stephanie and the agent.
As the other two fled through the doorway, Dieter stopped and spoke to Hans, who stood near the back of the church, looking stolid. "Talk to those damn fools," Dieter said breathlessly. "Explain what we're doing and make sure they don't follow us." He holstered the pistol and ran outside.
The engine of the Simca was turning over. Dieter pushed the agent into the cramped backseat and got into the front passenger seat. Stephanie stamped on the pedal and the little car shot out of the square like a champagne cork.
As they raced along the street, Dieter turned and looked through the back window. "No one following," he said. "Slow down. We don't want to get stopped by a gendarme."
The agent said in French, "I'm Helicopter. What the hell happened in there?"
Dieter realized that "Helicopter" must be a code name. He recalled that Gaston had told him Mademoiselle Lemas's code name. "This is Bourgeoise," he said, indicating Stephane. "And I'm Charenton," he improvised, thinking for some reason of the prison where the Marquis de Sade had been incarcerated. "Bourgeoise has become suspicious, in the last few days, that the cathedral rendezvous might be watched, so she asked me to come with her. I'm not part of the Bollinger circuit-Bourgeoise is a cut-out."
"Yes, I understand that."
"Anyway, we now know the Gestapo had set a trap, and it's just fortunate that she had asked me to be there as backup for her."
"You were brilliant!" Helicopter said enthusiastically. "God, I was so scared, I thought I'd blown it on my first day."
You have, Dieter thought silently.
It seemed to Dieter that he might have saved the situation. Helicopter now firmly believed that Dieter was a member of the Resistance. Helicopter's French sounded perfect, but obviously he was not quite good enough to identify Dieter's slight accent. Was there anything else that might cause him to be suspicious, perhaps later when he thought things over? Dieter had stood up and said "No!" right at the start of the rumpus, but a plain "No" did not mean much, and anyway he did not think anyone had heard him. Willi Weber had shouted "Major" in German at Dieter, and Dieter had fired his weapon to drown out any further indiscretion. Had Helicopter heard that one word, did he know what it meant, and would he remember it later and puzzle over it? No, Dieter decided. If Helicopter had understood the word, he would have assumed Weber was addressing one of the other Gestapo men: they were all in plain clothes so could be any rank.
Helicopter would now trust Dieter in all things, being convinced Dieter had snatched him from the clutches of the Gestapo.
Others might not be quite so easy to fool. The existence of a new Resistance member codenamed Charenton and recruited by Mademoiselle Lemas would have to be plausibly explained, both to London and to the leader of the Bollinger circuit, Michel Clairet. Both might ask questions and run checks. Dieter would just have to deal with them in due course. It was not possible to anticipate everything.