The Frenchman noted that their healthy, rosy, American faces had begun to show signs of stress and the austerity of their living conditions. A shame. They had arrived as such a winsome group. “We will begin with the code name Liverwort. You have made the acquaintance of one of the most dangerous Nazis in Paris, who appears to have taken an interest in you. You need to know that he spent a year in graduate school at Harvard University in the United States, where he honed an already facile command of English. He is a master linguist with fluency in numerous languages and is known for his extraordinary ability to detect dialects and accents—a great asset in his job, Major Renault asked that I stress.”

All faces remained rigidly focused on him and none paled, but if the Frenchman was called upon to guess, he would venture that the card belonged to the tall, stately beauty who seemed the most changed of all in her time in Paris. A light had gone out behind her reserved exterior, somewhat like a lamp usually seen aglow through the curtains of an elegant abode now extinguished, leaving one to wonder about the occupant inside. Colonel Albrecht came from among the oldest lines of aristocrats in Europe. Of the group, she was the only one who would be of interest to him.

He moved on to the other code names, his listeners’ eyes on him still as stones. “Lodestar, this card is for you. You have several problems that threaten your safety. By a fluke of chance, Liverwort has made the discovery of your address, and as I assume you are only too aware, a sergeant in the German Army, born and reared in America, is a boarder under your roof. He works for the Abwehr here in Paris, and his job is to serve as an interpreter for the interrogations of Allied prisoners. Needless to point out, that situation creates a grave danger for you and the others.”

No one moved a muscle, but the Frenchman could feel the room fill with tension. He’d have liked another cigarette, but the distraction might break their attention. “There is more,” he said. “Not only is the Abwehr sergeant sharing quarters with Lodestar, but he happens to be from Lapwing’s hometown in America. They grew up together as neighbors. His name is Dirk Drechsler.”