Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

Radio operators are not 100 percent invisible, and ghostly figures can be seen looming in the gloom in the ghostly world they haunt.A Gestapo radio detection team based in a large, dimly lit hall in Paris is dedicated to hunting for these ghosts.Dieter had visited that place.Three hundred round oscilloscope screens blinked green, and radio broadcasts appeared on the monitors as vertical lines, the position of the line indicating the frequency of the transmission, and the height of the line indicating the strength of the signal.Day and night, the operators watched the screen silently and vigilantly, making him feel like a group of angels watching over the evils of mankind.

These operators knew the regular stations, both German and foreign.They can spot a rogue as soon as they show up.When this happened, the operator picked up the phone on his desk and contacted three tracking stations, two in Augsburg and Nuremberg in southern Germany, and one in Brittany in Brest.The radio operator will notify them of the rogue's radio frequency.Tracking stations are equipped with direction finders, instruments used to measure angles, and each station will say within seconds where the broadcast is coming from.They sent this information back to Paris, where the operator drew three lines on a large map on the wall, and where the three lines intersected was the location of the suspect's radio station.The operator then called the nearest Gestapo agency to the location.The local Gestapo had already prepared vehicles equipped with their own detection instruments.

Dieter was sitting in one such car, a stretched black Citroen, parked on the outskirts of Reims.He also brought three Gestapo officers with experience in radio detection.He didn't need help from Paris tonight, Dieter already knew what frequency the "helicopter" was going to use, and he also figured that the "helicopter" would be transmitting somewhere in the city (because the radio operator wanted to be in the countryside. area is very difficult to hide).The receiver in the car was already tuned to the "helicopter" frequency.It measures the strength and direction of the radio waves, and if the pointer on the dial rises, Dieter will know that he is approaching the transmitter.

In addition, the Gestapo sitting next to Dieter carried a receiver and antenna, hidden under his raincoat.On his wrist is a watch-like gauge that shows signal strength.When the search was narrowed down to a specific street, block, or building, he took over and scouted on foot. The Gestapo, sitting in the front seat, had a sledgehammer in his lap with which to break open the door. Dieter once hunted.He disliked country chases, preferring the more refined amusements of the city, but he was a good shot.Right now, waiting for the "helicopters" to start sending encrypted reports to England reminded him of that hunt, and it was like lying in a hiding place early in the morning, nervously anticipating the fawn's movement, savoring what the anticipation brought. happy.

The Resistance isn't fawns, they're cunning foxes, Dieter thought.They lurk in the burrow, come out occasionally, go to the chicken coop to slaughter, and then go back underground.Embarrassed at losing the Helicopter, he was eager to get him again, and didn't even mind too much that he needed to rely on Willie Webb.He just wanted to kill the fox. It is a clear summer night.The car is parked at the northernmost end of the city.Reims is a small city, and Dieter estimated that it would take less than ten minutes to drive from one end to the other.He looked at his watch, it was one minute past eight. The "helicopter" did not send out a signal for a long time.Maybe he won't report tonight...but that's unlikely."Helicopter" met Michelle today.He probably wanted to report his success to his superiors as soon as possible and inform them how many Bollingers had left.

Michelle made the phone call at the DuBois Avenue house two hours later.Dieter was there.It was a very tense moment.Stephanie answered the phone, imitating Miss Remus' voice.Michelle said his code name, and asked "Middle Class" if he remembered him - a question that reassured Stephanie, because it showed that Michelle was not familiar with Miss Remus, so she would not find out that there was an imposter . Michelle asked her about her new recruit, the man code-named Charenton. "He's my cousin," Stephanie said gruffly. He vouches for it." Michele told her she had no right to hire and should have at least consulted with him, but he seemed to believe her story, and Dieter kissed Stephanie and said she was doing a great job Yes, it is not a problem to join the French Theater.

Either way, Helicopter knew full well that the Gestapo would be listening to him and trying to get him.He has to take that risk, and he's useless if he doesn't send a message back home.He wants to send a telegram in the shortest time possible, and if he has many messages to send, he breaks it up into two or more parts and sends them from different locations.Dieter's only hope is that the "helicopter" will take the risk and stay on the band a little longer. Time passed by second by second, there was silence on the frequency band, and several people were smoking uneasily.Then, at five past eight, the receiver beeped.

As prearranged, the driver immediately started the car and headed south.The signal was stronger, but not so rapidly that Dieter worried that they were not directly toward the source of the emission. Sure enough, when they passed the cathedral in the city center, the needle dropped back. In the backseat, a Gestapo was talking on a short-wave radio, questioning people in a radio pick-up vehicle a mile away.After a while he said, "Northwest Territories." The driver immediately turned back west, and the signal began to strengthen. "I got you." Dieter breathed a sigh of relief.

But five minutes had passed. As the car sped west, the signal got stronger, and Helicopter continued to pound the Morse keys of his suitcase radio, probably hidden in a bathroom, attic, or barn northwest of the city.Meanwhile, at the Château Saint-Cécile, a German radio operator was listening to the same frequency, taking down the encrypted message.Magnetic wire recorders also recorded it.Dieter then decrypted it with the one-time pad copied by Stephanie, but the information was not as important as the sender. They drove into a neighborhood of tall, big old houses, mostly dilapidated, subdivided into small apartments for students and nurses.The signal grew louder, then suddenly faded away. "It's over, it's over!" shouted the Gestapo in the front seat.The driver reversed the car, then braked.

Ten minutes have passed. Dieter and the three Gestapo rushed out of the car.The one with the portable detection device hidden under the raincoat walked quickly along the sidewalk, checking the meter on his wrist, and the others followed.After walking a hundred meters, he suddenly turned around, stopped, and pointed to a house. "It's here," he said, "but the launch has stopped." Dieter discovers that there are no curtains on the windows, and the resistance group likes to use abandoned houses to send intelligence. The Gestapo with a big hammer knocked on the door twice, and several people rushed into the room together.

The floor was bare, there was no carpet, and the room smelled musty.Dieter slammed open a door, and the room was empty. Dieter opened the door of the back room, walked through the empty room a few steps, and looked at the kitchen, but there was no one in it. Dieter ran upstairs.Upstairs there is a window that looks directly onto the garden.Dieter looked out and saw Helicopter and Michel running across the grass.Michele was limping, and the "helicopter" was carrying his small suitcase.Dieter cursed.They must have slipped out the back door when the Gestapo broke down the front door.Dieter turned around and shouted: "The garden behind!" Several Gestapo ran up, and he followed. In the garden, he saw Michelle and the "helicopter" climb over the fence and into another yard.He followed the others, but was too far away from the two fugitives.He and the three Gestapo climbed over the fence and continued the pursuit through this second garden. By the time they reached the next street, they saw a black Renault Monaquitel disappear around the corner. "Damn it," said Dieter.For the second time in one day, the "helicopter" slipped from his palm.