Free Spook's Gold by Andrew Wood

and through and often spouted the standard rhetoric about communist and Jewish terrorists and agitators, but no one believed that nonsense now.  The early Resistance activity may have sprung from a groundswell of anger of French communists to the German invasion of Russia.  This had been the motivation behind the shooting of Kriegsmarine officer Alfons Moser in August 1941 by the communist Pierre Georges in the Barbès metro station.  It had certainly raised the alert level in German high command.  Most of Marner’s initial work here in Paris had been tracking and monitoring such activity.  But hundreds of communist dissidents had been caught and executed at Fort Mont-Valérien and the communists were now largely a spent force.  Quite simply, the resurgence of resistance activity now under way in France was by ordinary French people who had endured an occupation and were sensing the weakening of the occupiers.  Yes, weakening, he admitted. 
    The files that he had already reviewed had plenty of potential leads, primarily furnished by the informants and collaborators feeding the various sections of the RHSA.  The problem was with the staggering amount of raw and unprocessed information; it was unsurprising that he had found nothing that seemed linked.  Most likely the break in this case would entail finding the right informant, for which he would undoubtedly need Boris. 
    At the lower end of the Champs-Élysées he crossed the wide arena of Place de la Concorde that was dominated by the towering needle of the Obélisque, this place where Madame la Guillotine had despatched the aristocracy with such great élan and efficiency.  How crazy the activity of humans appears to be when viewed from the lofty vantage point of hundreds of years of history, he thought; what would the citizens of the world have to say about the events of this century, two hundred years from now?
    The imposing twin façades of the Hotel Crillon and the Ministère de la Marine entirely dominated the northern perimeter of the Place.  The hotel had been the first headquarters of the German military command following the fall of France in 1940.  Entering the Ministère, Marner realised that he had no contact within Kriegsmarine headquarters to help him, no idea even of which department or group within the organisation would have the information that he wanted.  Therefore he went directly to Hoffman’s office, but this time it was the aide that he wanted, not Hoffman. 
    The aide, Staff Sergeant Lesemann, was a classic career administrator and had little enthusiasm or courage for making decisions or taking responsibility, other than wielding the authority to be able to deny access to his boss.  When Marner demanded information or files regarding the submarines that had transported these special shipments, Lesemann replied curtly that he neither knew of them nor could help. 
    Marner made his play.  “I am investigating the murder of a senior Kriegsmarine officer, under the full authority of both Hoffman and the Reich Security Services.  This is urgent, because we believe that other personnel are at imminent risk.  So either give me what I need, or get me Hoffman, but if you don’t help me one way or the other, I will ensure that you are held responsible for the obstruction of this investigation.”
    Lesemann blanched under this onslaught, gulped a few times and then lunged for the telephone.  He barked a quick command into the phone and even before the receiver was back in its cradle an underling burst through a side door and snapped to attention in front of them. 
    “This is Corporal Beele, he will take you to the relevant section and ensure that you are put in contact with the relevant officer,” said Lesemann.  Marner thanked him and followed Beele. 
    ----
    The submarine command group occupied an extensive wing of the building.  Marner was led into an outer office that contained a dozen personnel, an even mix of male and female