Wilhelm Baumer, a sergent-chef in Camerone’s supply unit, was caught trying to leave his post, some sixth sense telling him that his time was up.
Otto Hirsch, a new arrival from Sassy assigned to the Stug Kompagnie, resisted arrest and was shot down without compunction.
In the Legion hospital, Capitan Dr Gottfried Pfeffer protested his innocence, but was taken away all the same.
De Walle, ill at ease at the last of Gehlen’s discoveries, personally arrested Commandant Guy Parras at the headquarters of Camerone’s artillery regiment, removing the highest placed of Gehlen’s detections, and a man who De Walle felt was a personal embarrassment and a stain on the honour of the Legion.
Parras’ discovery had, by Gehlen’s own admission, been a very lucky break; a Frenchman netted in a sweep of German personnel.
Elsewhere in the Legion Corps, others, whose dubious behaviour and associations had brought them to the attention of Gehlen’s service, were closely monitored.
‘Pantomime 26?’
Lieutenant Pinkerova read the low-level report from a member of the Peruvian Consulate regarding a recent communication made by one of the senior staff. Using his access to the diplomatic bag, the agent had examined the letter and recorded its contents.
The report had been clerked into the GRU headquarters the previous evening, so was already twenty hours old.
Taking the report, she made the short journey to Poboshkin’s office, via the filing desk where she asked for and received the file on ‘Pantomime’. On arrival, she placed both in front of Lieutenant Colonel Poboshkin.
After a short explanation, Poboshkin opened the file and started to sift through its contents.
Previously, GRU and NKVD had discovered the scent of something called Pantomime, but the specific operation was unknown to them; despite the considerable amount of paperwork the file contained, there were no facts and precious little but whispers and innuendo to go on. It was a very unsatisfactory file in so many respects, except for three entries which, in the light of recent events, caught Poboshkin’s eye immediately.
Poboshkin started, the jerky movement pronounced enough to make Pinkerova recoil automatically.
He screwed his eyes up and re-read the different sheets, laying each out side by side.
“What do you see, Comrade Leytenant?”
Pinkerova was considered bright by those who worked with her, and Poboshkin was just using her brain to confirm his own thinking.
Her eyes flitted back and forth, taking in the minutiae, discarding some things, filing others, until she had her moment of realisation.
“Poland.”
“Yes… obviously,” he said with some humour.
“This one is from a naval source, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Comrade.”
“The dates… these reports all come from the last two weeks… significant I think, Comrade PodPolkovnik.”
“I agree.”
She frowned.
“It’s not that simple, is it? The 26th… Poland?”
The knock on the door broke their concentration.
A young clerk nervously entered, bearing a message sheet.
“Comrade PodPolkovnik, I wanted to file this new message, but I’m told you’re holding the Pantomime file? Perhaps you wish to see it now?”
“Thank you, Comrade Serzhant. From what source?”
The girl explained that the report originated from one of the members of the GRU openly placed within the 1st Polish Army.
The man, a sergeant in the Army motor pool, had overheard a conversation between two unknown Polish senior officers.
Hidden beneath the car he was working on, the two had been oblivious to his presence, speaking in soft whispers that had barely carried to him.
The Sergeant was careful to say what he heard and what he might have heard, but he was certain about the words that stood out in his report.
He felt the hair on his neck stand on end.
Leytenant Pinkerova, sharing the document, experienced the same sensation.
There is was, in black and white, the same phrase.
‘Pantomime 26.’
“That’s it then. They’re coming tomorrow! Thank you Comrade Serzhant. Leytenant, find Comrade General Nazarbayeva and brief her. Tell her I’m informing Army command and I’ll bring the file as soon as possible. Quickly now, there’s not a moment to lose.”
The office emptied rapidly, leaving Poboshkin holding the phone.
“Get me Marshal Konev immediately.”
“That’s precisely what my aide passed on to Marshal Konev, Comrade Marshal.”
Nazarbayeva listened as Zhukov shouted at his staff, the sudden burst of sound causing her to recoil from the handset.
As she waited for the flow of orders to halt, she beckoned Poboshkin closer.
“Get this copied immediately and get yourself on a plane to Moscow. I’ll sort that immediately. I want the GKO to see the raw data… Yes, Comrade Marshal, I’m still here.”
She listened for a few moments and replaced the receiver, Zhukov ending the conversation without the normal pleasantries.
A very tired Repin stood waiting for instructions and quickly received some, as Nazarbayeva had been simultaneously composing a written order.
“Tell our mutual friend, then get a team over to this address and get the Peruvian shaken down quickly. Wring him for everything he knows… and get it done quickly. We’ve no time to lose.”
Repin took the order and left as Nazarbayeva turned her attention back to her Aide.
“As quick as you can, Andrey. The Army is alerted but I think that STAVKA will need more persuasion. Good luck, Comrade.”
She pressed the phone to her ear once more and hit the exchange button.
“Commander, Nordhausen Airfield please.”
Beria was spitting as his excitement and anger powered the rate of words as well as the volume.
“Where’s the main document? Has it arrived yet?”
Danilov, Beria’s personal secretary, shrugged his shoulders.
“According to that document,” he pointed at Philby’s covering report on Spectrum, “The item was dispatched on the normal BOAC Stockholm run. It should be here, but it isn’t, Comrade Marshal.”
Philby had been thorough and copied out the main points of the document and describing the deceptions therein, sending all in a sealed file, complete with film of every page, on the normal communications route.
Beria had taken delivery of Philby’s warning that morning but, apart from alerting Senior NKVD commanders in the whole Baltic arena, not just Poland, had done nothing but seek out the main file details that had been sent by the BOAC route.
Whilst he suspected enemy maskirovka at work and, naturally wished to avoid any more embarrassment to his agency, warning his own forces was prudent, as well as deniable if the information was some sort of enemy ruse.
“Find that fucking document, now!”
Danilov departed at high speed, determined to find the missing information.
The phone rang behind him.
“Beria.”
The NKVD Marshal’s angry voice immediately took on a softer tone.
“Yes, Comrade General Secretary.”
No-one was there to witness the foul look that covered his features.
“Has she now?”
He looked at Philby’s preliminary report, almost taunting him, now that corroborative evidence seemed to have surfaced.
He took the plunge.
“Indeed, Comrade General Secretary. I’d just finished confirming that exact same piece of information. I’ve already placed NKVD units integrated with the Polish army on high alert and was about to call you and…”