That remained to be proved, but Derrick had no interest in flushing the chicken from its coop. He would not search the house with the mail drop or have the three men picked up for questioning. That would not suit his plans. If an OSS operation was being carried out on the Rue des Soeurs de Charité, he would allow it to be. He would not interfere with the game Victoria and her fellow conspirators were engaged in as long as they continued playing into his hands. His major concern was that they would get caught. He would have to take measures to assure that they were not. He would call in a specialized team for the task at hand.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Nineteen forty-three progressed. The Allies were steadily making headway against the Axis powers on land, sea, and in the air. Throughout the spring that had merged into a hot, dry summer in Europe, enemy tides were turning. The Japanese were being pushed out of the Pacific Islands; Allied forces had begun a successful invasion into Italy that led to its unconditional surrender in September; and the North African Campaign had ended in May. Resistance organizations throughout occupied Europe were growing in numbers and successfully sabotaging Wehrmacht installations, German-controlled industrial plants, explosives depots, rail and communication lines, and rubber and steel works. In France, the elusive Black Ghost’s Maquis group was terrorizing German patrols, convoys, and radio outposts, and forcing the Nazis to form protection units with soldiers they could ill afford to pull from their ranks. In his office at the Prefecture of Police headquarters in Paris, Maurice Corbett closely followed the news of the Allied advance and French victories, and patiently bided his time.

On into late fall and throughout the rest of the year, Dragonfly hovered close to waters teeming with an increasingly frantic enemy. Despite the extreme measures Nazi police organizations took to search out and punish Allied spies and informers, Dragonfly steadily provided critical information to the Bern station, a strong argument for keeping the team in place.

But Alistair could not shake his enduring fear that it was only a matter of time before his dragonflies flew into the enemy’s mouth.

As 1944 began and advanced, the grounds were laid for Alistair’s fears to materialize. A report was placed on his desk February 19 that elicited an expletive so loud that everyone in the building heard it. The startled desk sergeant outside his door jumped up and rushed into Alistair’s office.

“What is it, Major?”

Alistair sat with his fingers kneading his temples. “Yesterday, Hitler relieved Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of his command in Berlin and abolished the Abwehr. The organization is to be absorbed into the SS.”

The stunned clerk asked, “What’s to happen to Major General Konrad March?”

“How the hell do I know?”