away in Paris it was midafternoon, the sun warm and bright, the sky clear, a perfect day for strolling along the boulevards, or walking through the Tuileries Gardens, or catching the breezes from the Seine, watching the boats glide over the water and under the myriad bridges. Paris in summer was an unmatched blessing.
For Janine Clunes Courtland the day itself was not only a blessing, but a symbol of triumph. She was free for a day or two, free from the middle-class morality of a boring husband who still mooned over another wife, repeating her name frequently in his sleep. For a moment or two she considered how lovely, how fulfilling it would be to have an assignation with someone, a lover who could satisfy her as had the many virile young students in Chicago, carefully selected, and the reason she lived an hour away from the university. There was an attache at the German Embassy, an attractive man in his early thirties who had flirted with her somewhat obviously; she could phone him and he would come running to wherever she suggested, she knew that.
But it could not be, as delightful and as tempting the thought was;
her free time had to be put to more immediate, less selfish, interests. She had excused herself from D and R for the length of time her husband, the ambassador, would be away, for there were domestic chores far more easily accomplished in his absence. No one argued, naturally, and, naturally, she let Daniel's chief aide know she was scouting the shops for various new fabrics for their quarters.. .. No, she could not accept an embassy limousine; it was an exercise in personal taste and should not be charged to the State Department.
How easily the words came. Then, why shouldn't they? She had been trained since she was nine years old for her life's work. She did, however, permit the aide to call her a taxi.
Janine had been given the address and the contact code for a member of the Brotherhood before she left Washington. It was a boot maker shop in the Champstlys6es, the name "Andre" to be used twice in a brief conversation, such as "Andre says you're the best boot maker in Paris, and Andre is almost never wrong." She gave the taxi driver the address and sat back, contemplating what information she would send to Germany.. .. The truth, of course, but phrased in such a way that the leadership would not only admire her extraordinary accomplishments but see the wisdom of bringing her to Bonn. After all, the ambassadorship to France was one of the most important diplomatic posts in Europe, at the moment so sensitive that the State Department had reached into its corps of experienced professionals rather than accept a raw political appointee. And she was that professional's wife. She had been told that the recently divorced foreign service officer was soon to emerge as a star of the department. The rest was easy;
Daniel Courtland was lonely and depressed, in search of the comfort she provided.
The taxi arrived at the boot maker shop, yet it was more than a shop, rather, a small leather emporium. Glistening boots, saddles, and various riding accoutrements filled the tasteful front windows. Janine Clunitz got out and dismissed the taxi.
Thirty yards behind the departing cab, the [email protected] vehicle pulled into a no-parking space. The driver picked up the ultra highfrequency phone and was immediately connected to Moreau's office.
"Yes," said Moreau himself, as no secretary had been chosen to replace the murdered Monique d'Agoste, whose death was kept secret under the pretext of illness.
"Madame Courtland just entered the Saddle and Bootery in the Champstlys6es."
"Purveyor to wealthy equestrians," said the [email protected] chief.
"Strange, there was nothing in the ambassadors dossier that mentioned a fondness for horses."
"The store is also famous for their boots, sir. Very durable and quite comfortable, I'm told."
"Courtland in boots, durable or not?"
"Perhaps the madame."
"If she's partial to such footwear, I suspect she'd march right in to Charles Jourdan or the Ferraganio shop in Saint-HonorL"
"We're reporting only what is happening, monsieur. Shall I send my colleague in to reconnoiter?"
"A good idea. Tell him to examine the merchandise, inquire as to prices, that sort of thing. If the madame is being fitted, he can leave quickly."
"Yes, sir."
In a Peugeot sedan that had circled the wide boulevard of the Champstlys6es and parked in a space across from the Saddle and Bootery, a man in an expensive pinstripes business suit also picked up