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."
"And why do you say this?" Evelyn asked.
"As I carried on a discussion with Nikolaus Valckenberg about his unusual fermentation practices and how he achieves the superb balance in his wines, the generals remained mute. When I compared the trockenbeerenauslese to Château d'Yquem, they appeared at a loss for words."
Henry shook his head. "I would have been the same."
"Nikolaus and I talked about this when I returned the next morning to purchase a selection of his older trockenbeerenauslese. He said many people are afraid to open their mouths lest they are seen as unknowledgeable."
"Particularly being shown as such by a young man. Your confidence would be intimidating to many. But there you were; uninvited yet taking control of the visit." Evelyn blew out a loud breath. "Ballsy of you to play a dominant role in that group."
"I had little choice. I had already shown them my confident arrogance in the dining room, so to shrink into the background would have appeared suspicious. Besides, I was impressed with the wine, and I wanted to share my appreciation of it with Nikolaus and the generals."
Henry and Evelyn both nodded, remaining silent.
David continued, "As we tasted the final wine, I asked Nikolaus if I could purchase some. I sensed the Prince was uncomfortable as he fidgeted, and when he pulled out his pocket watch, I saw an opportunity. I made a show of checking my Rolex, knowing the security officers in the dining room would have reported that I was a watch salesman."
"You sold him a watch?" Henry shook his head. "Tell me you didn't."
"I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't." David chuckled. "We met yesterday morning; the Prince, von Knobelsdorf and I, and we drafted a purchase order for —"
"You're telling us you've sold watches to the prince and the generals."
"And to all their officers. They had recently been discussing supplying them, and the chronometer precision of the Rolex won them over. Hans and I exchanged several wires yesterday. We've settled on a price per watch, and he's now dealing directly with them to establish a delivery schedule and acceptable terms of payment."
Henry nodded. "That's wise of you to step back from it and let Mr Wilsdorf handle the details."
"What quantities are we looking at here?" Evelyn asked.
"We talked about sixteen to eighteen thousand."
"Their numbers have increased." Henry shrugged. "But I've not reviewed the reports for quite a while. If I recall correctly, the establishment of the 5th Army was about a quarter million. That would give them twelve to fifteen thousand officers, so they must now be at three hundred thousand."
"My immediate concern was that I would be supplying the enemy, but at that point, I had no choice except to proceed with the negotiations. It would have appeared odd had I baulked. But my cover has had me supplying them with watches, anyway. Though in much smaller quantity."
"They were close to making a decision to purchase, and with their concern for accuracy, they would have found Rolex without you." Henry chuckled. "Besides, watches aren't offensive weapons, and they contain no secrets. Their use is no more than as a tool to assist in making decisions."
Evelyn pursed his lips as he nodded. "Valid points. So, David, tell us about your prime mission; tracking down the munitions plants and their sources?"
David related the sequence of events as he saw them, then he added what he had been told by the men. "They confirmed what I had learned from the French Attaché; their aerial reconnaissance photos show no vast munitions plants. The men found most are small compared to my preconceived ideas, and they're located along rail lines in communities with a sufficient work force. The women spoke about being ordered during the past few weeks to double or triple their production. And because of what Wilhelm spilt, I have assumed this increased production is to build a stockpile for their assault."
"That makes sense," Henry said. "So, where are they stockpiling it?"
"I watched empty peniches, which had brought coal to Oppau, hand-loading artillery shells in Worms and then heading down the Rhein. I assume they go to Koblenz and reascend the Mosel into France. This fits with the Verdun slip Wilhelm made when we negotiated the watches."
Henry slowly nodded as he listened. "But why Verdun? There's no strategic target there, nor are there any for a long distance beyond Verdun."
David raised a finger. There is another thing the men learned. "One of the women said the production is now being sorted into two lots, the new one designated as Judgement Seventeen."
"Likely a code name." Henry steepled his fingers on his lips, then spoke through them. "London will be able to link this to other reports. What else did the men learn?"
David chuckled. "The thing which delighted them the most was that with all the men gone, the women are starving for male attention."
"And your men are sacrificing themselves to offer it. Tough duty they..." Henry paused at the knock on the door, and they remained silent as tea was brought in and laid out.
When the steward and the maid had left, Evelyn picked up the bottle of Amontillado and poured. "I thought being disturbed on a Sunday afternoon, Henry, you would enjoy Spanish tea."
The three sat nibbling from a selection of almonds, olives, sliced sausages and cheese cubes as they continued the debriefing. David looked up from his wine glass. "One more thing. Herr Eisenstein mentioned that his son's battalion had recently been withdrawn from France for redeployment."
"Who is Eisenstein?"
"He's the shop owner to whom I have given exclusive rights to sell Rolex in Worms, and he's the one from whom I learned about the dining room at Hotel von Hohenthal. The newspaper there was filled with articles about families welcoming their husbands, fathers and sons back from their victories in France, so his mention of redeployment seems valid."
"Did you find time to sleep?"
"Very comfortably the last two nights. That hotel is amazingly luxurious, and the dining is among the finest I've ever had the privilege to enjoy. The cuisine is at the level of Escoffier's at the Carlton in London, so it's obvious why the generals chose it."
Evelyn nodded. "And you fit seamlessly into that environment."
"I felt guilty that I was enjoying myself so much." David smiled as he raised his glass of Amontillado. "But if someone must do it, I'll happily continue suffering the guilt."