Konrad’s friend and coconspirator played the part of the haughty conqueror well. With an icy gaze and tone that held years of hatred between the two organizations, Derrick announced to him that the general’s department would fall under his jurisdiction. Major General March would retain a junior position unless, of course, he wished to transfer to another division of the Wehrmacht. Derrick would be taking over the major general’s duties immediately. Konrad was to hand over the keys to all doors, filing cabinets, and safes, and see to it that all personal items were removed from his office. The colonel would be occupying both his own office at 84 Avenue Foch and the major general’s in the Lutetia Hotel.

Konrad was assigned a desk in another room in the building that lacked all but the minimum ventilation and light. His function for the moment was to arrange the reassignment of his staff to other divisions within the German Army and to familiarize his new superior with the Abwehr’s operation. Konrad would have been among the exodus to a post commensurate to his rank had it not been for the secret business he shared with the man who now occupied his office. To the few Abwehr men on his staff in on the conspiracy, he had presented the choice to stay on or to transfer to other commands. To a man they had agreed to accept demeaning positions in the SS to continue their rescue operations. In his organization, Derrick was not so fortunate to have such men on his staff. He could trust only one sergeant and a junior officer to assist with his clandestine activities.

With the absorption of the Abwehr into the SS, the two senior heads now had to be extra careful in making use of the Nacht und Nebel decree issued by Hitler, which gave intelligence organizations permission to ignore the agreements and procedures of the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners. Translated, Nacht and Nebel meant “night” and “fog,” an apt name for the decree, since prisoners were hustled away under a cloak of darkness to some secret location where they would vanish without a trace, leaving their families never to know of their whereabouts. It was a loathsome policy meant to intimidate local populations into submission, but it provided Konrad and Derrick the perfect cover to arrange the escape of certain prisoners of state without questions being asked. However, on too many occasions, the victims had been whisked away prematurely, to the annoyance of other organizations wishing to question or make examples of them.