Watching Fritz

Chapter Fifty-Six

David and Evelyn looked up at the knock on the door, and they rose to greet Colonel Picot. Once they had settled, Evelyn said, "David, give us an overview of the events leading to your meeting with Prince Wilhelm." He looked at the clock on the wall. "I have nothing except tea between now and dinner, so offer all the detail you wish."

David began by telling them about his meeting with Hans Wilsdorf and their refining of the cover for the men, and Henry commented on its cleverness. The story continued with training the men in observation and in concocting plausible cover stories as they drove north, and then leaving them on their own. He touched on delivering watches in Mannheim and taking another large order, and as he talked about discovering the availability of private hire cars, Henry said, "You can use those to be less conspicuous."

"Yes, the men engaged two of them this morning to use in their continuing investigations."

"I should have realised. So, their initial investigations?"

"We'll get to those a bit later. From Mannheim, I went to Worms." David continued the tale, bringing them to the lunch in Hotel von Hohenthal, and the five generals. After he had recounted approaching their table to apologise for causing a security concern, Picot asked, "Why did you do that?"

"To show them I was not intimidated by their tactics, to show I had spirit, and to intrigue them in case we met again. The likelihood of that was high since we were staying in the same hotel and dining in the same room."

"But, your cover?"

"My cover is as solid as any William has encountered. I need only remember my name. I act as an adventurous and entrepreneurial young Swiss man with seemingly unlimited means, and this stops most inquiries."

"But that's how you've shown yourself to us from the beginning," Evelyn said. "You are being who you are, with the only difference being a change of name and citizenship."

"That's why I can be confident." David continued to unfold his adventure, taking them into the Valckenberg cellars. "When Wilhelm told me that the assault was to begin within three weeks, I saw von Knobelsdorf elbow him. He immediately changed the subject back to wine."

"General von Knobelsdorf? We have lost track of him. He was Chief of Staff of the VII Army before the war; then when it became the 5th Army at the start of the war, Prince Wilhelm took over."

"He appears to be the adviser to Prince Wilhelm."

Picot nodded. "Yes, that explains it. A habit of theirs is to promote a young high noble to General and place a senior General to oversee and advise."

"That seems to be what I saw." David chuckled. "Though, at times he was closer to being a batman."

"And the other generals? Did you get their names?"

David pulled the piece of paper from his pocket. "One I didn't get, but the other two were von Falkenhayn and von Schenck."

"Good God! Eric von Falkenhayn is Chief of the German General Staff." Henry shook his head. "London must be told about this immediately."

"I had thought to draft a message tonight and be at the message centre when it opens in the morning. The three weeks until the start tells me there's nothing to be lost by a few hours delay."

Henry nodded. "True. I'll sit with you and assist in drafting the message." He looked at the paper in David's hand. "And the other one, von Shmuck?"

"Dedo von Schenck."

"Not familiar with him. London will know, though." Henry looked at David and shook his head. "And you tasted wine with these men?"

"Yes, but they were uncomfortable with their lack of knowledge."