Evelyn’s heart was pounding, both from the exertion and from fright, as she turned down the second-to-last aisle of books and began scanning the spines. After looking at a handful of numbers, she determined that the one she needed was about midway along the shelves. She moved forward quickly, scanning the shelves about halfway up the aisle. It would be easily accessible, and probably at eye-level. After all, Karl had been in a hurry when he placed the envelope. He would hardly have taken the time to pick a book out of easy reach.
There! She spotted the title and plucked the slender, leather-bound volume off the shelf. Opening it, she flipped through the pages quickly, gasping softly when a creased envelope fell into her gloved hand.
Somehow, she was only half expecting to find the envelope. The whole thing was so surreal that now, holding it in her hand, Evelyn felt a rush of excitement go through her. It was really here! This was what Karl had risked so much to get out of Germany and into her hands.
A man coughed nearby and her heart slammed in her chest. How long had she been standing there, staring at the envelope in a stupor? Not more than a second, surely! With her heart pounding, Evelyn slid the book back onto the shelf and opened the envelope. She pulled out three strips of microfilm and glanced up and down the aisle. She only had a few moments before the Security Service agent came along and found her.
With shaking hands, she opened her handbag.
Josephine frowned and slipped into an empty aisle, peering around the corner. The man in the black overcoat was striding down the center aisle, looking down each row on both sides as he went. He moved steadily, searching for his quarry with unrelenting focus.
Biting her lip, she hesitated, then grabbed a book from the shelf near her shoulder and emerged from the aisle. He was about halfway to the end now, pausing to listen. A man coughed somewhere up ahead and the agent moved forward again. Josephine followed, keeping her eyes on his back, ready to duck into the stacks again if he turned his head.
The woman could only be a few seconds ahead of him, hardly enough time to find the package, let alone conceal it. She had to do something or the German would get the package and the courier would be exposed. She had to buy the woman more time!
Josephine ducked down the next aisle and pulled random books from the shelves, piling them on top of each other in her arms before turning to go out of the stacks once more. The man had paused about four aisles from the end and was looking around in some indecision. Clearly he was unsure if he should continue or try the other side of the library.
Picking up her pace until she was practically running, Josephine went towards him with her large stack of books. Just as he began moving again, she stumbled and fell forward, launching the books at his back.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, falling to her knees.
One of the books hit him while the others flew out around her, pages falling open in disarray. The man swung around, staring at her in astonishment as she sprawled on floor at his feet. The noise drew the attention of nearby patrons and one came running out of the row nearby.
“Are you hurt?” a young man in a mustard pullover sweater and glasses asked, rushing over to kneel beside her.
“No, no, I’m fine,” she assured him, looking around her in bemusement. “I think I must have tripped.”
The man in the black overcoat looked down at her, clearly torn between his desire to continue with his manhunt and the basic manners which required him to assist her.
“Let me help you,” he finally said in heavily accented French, bending to pick up the book that had pelted him in the back.
“Oh no, it’s quite all right,” Josephine exclaimed. “I don’t want to cause a commotion.”
“There’s no commotion,” the young man with the glasses assured her, handing her a book. “It’s a good thing you aren’t hurt. These floors can be brutal. I know. I’ve slipped once or twice myself.”
Josephine looked at him. “You’re very kind. Thank you.”
“Well, if you’re quite sure you’re all right,” the man in the overcoat stopped just short of clicking his heels together, “I’m in a hurry at the moment.”
“Yes, thank you very much,” she said, accepting the book he held out. “I really don’t want to be a bother. Please, don’t think twice about it!”
The man turned away and continued towards the end of the aisle as the young man beside her helped Josephine gather up the books around them. Looking up under her eyelashes, her breath caught in her throat as she watched the woman in blue emerge from the second-to-last stack.
The man stopped dead and there was a moment of stunned silence as he and the woman stared at each other. Then, without batting an eyelid, the woman continued on her way, walking down the aisle towards them. She had just passed the Gestapo agent when he turned and called out.
“Mademoiselle!”
The woman stopped and Josephine thought her face went a shade paler before she turned to face the man.
“Yes?”
“Could I bother you for the time?” he asked, stepping forward to stand before her.
Josephine accepted the last book from the young man and rose to her feet with him. Across the distance, she watched as the woman raised her left arm
