“This is Columbia House. Our offices are closed at the moment. You may dial your party’s extension or stay on the line to leave a general voice mail.” There were no extensions, but also no way for an outside caller to know that.

“This is Jean Simpson. I’m calling in reference to a book I received from your organization. If you could call back I’d be grateful.” The voice left a number and then the line went dead.

The four associates of Columbia House, by now operating on coffee and adrenaline as they attempted to manage an international operation from this modest but well-wired house in the suburbs of Munich, sat staring at one another.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” said Dietrich.

“She didn’t even bother to calculate the time change,” said Gottfried.

“She probably just wants to say thank you,” said Dietrich.

“We mailed the book about two weeks ago,” said Eva. “Wouldn’t she have said thank you before now?”

“Can you put a trace on that phone?” said Weiss to Gottfried. “So we can keep an eye on where she goes.”

“I can only do that,” said Gottfried with a smile, “if Miss Jean Simpson was foolish enough to give me her phone number.”

“Now,” said Ingrid. “What do we tell our boys to do with these American swine at Bletchley?”

“We send them in now,” said Dietrich, slipping an arm around Eva’s waist. “We let them get away before, let’s not do it again. Our boys can eliminate Nemo and I’m sure they’ll have some creative thoughts on how to convince the woman to finish the decryption.”

Eva leaned into Dietrich’s embrace but did not look at him, instead addressing Ingrid directly. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” she said. “Nemo already took Erich out once. He’s a professional killer, that’s why we hired him.”

“But he’s unarmed,” said Dietrich. “They went straight from the airport to Bletchley and they didn’t check any bags. He can’t possibly have a gun.”

“Yes,” said Eva, “and Erich and Karl are unarmed, too—for the same reason.”

“If they leave Bletchley with the decrypt, I’ll have no way of tracking them,” said Gottfried, turning from his computer screens to join the conversation.

“True,” said Ingrid, “but Karl is disabling their car. So they can’t go far.”

“Still,” said Dietrich, “we have eyes on them now. On foot in the middle of the night, they could disappear.”

“They don’t know the car has been disabled,” said Ingrid. “Let them finish the decrypt and have Karl and Erich eliminate them when they come back to the vehicle.”

“All I’m saying,” said Dietrich, “is we haven’t done too well predicting their movements so far.”