Inside was a message for Paris.
Courier compromised. Operation Mirage discovered. Proceed with caution.
He dropped it through the grate where the water would carry it toward the embassy pipes.
When he straightened, a voice came from the shadows.
"Too late for caution, monsieur."
Two Gestapo men stepped forward.
One held a pistol.
Seraph smiled faintly. "You found me faster than I thought."
The man shrugged. "You French talk too much in cafés."
"Not enough," Seraph said.
They took him away.
The capsule disappeared beneath the city, carried by dark water.
In his office, Ribbentrop was still awake when the telephone rang.
He snatched it up. "Yes?"
"Krüger speaking," the voice said. "The courier broke under interrogation. He gave a few names. One keeps repeating. Artois."
Ribbentrop wrote it down slowly. "Artois. A Frenchman?"
"Possibly an officer. We're checking."
"Keep this quiet," Ribbentrop said. "The Führer hears nothing until I decide."
