The Briefing "This way, Gentlemen."
The clerk ushered the two men through the door and into the Commissioner's office. They stood nervously in front of Vicomte Zilvain's dark walnut desk as the Commissioner tapped the papers he had been reading back into alignment and laid them to one side. The latch clicked quietly behind them. "Please be seated, Gentlemen, and thank you for coming. I had a number of applications for the Ferret positions, but you two were clearly the most promising candidates. First things first: you (pointing to the man on his left) will be referred to as Weasel whilst you (pointing to the other) will be known as Stoat. These codenames will be used in all correspondence to protect your identities. My own codename is 'Mother' or 'M' for short. Understood?" The two men nodded. "Good. The Commission has a number of live cases at the moment, but the case you two will be working on has by far the highest priority: the disappearance of Lt.Colonel de Frost, codenamed 'Polecat'. Let me fill you in on the background." The Commissioner handed two identical papers to the men before him. "This is the last message we were able to intercept concerning an affair which has become known as the 'Fromage Conspiracy.' You will be aware that the traitor Chabot was a key figure in this Swedish spyring, which is why I am currently handling the affairs of the Foreign Ministry in addition to my own?" The men nodded again. "Good. The objective of this spyring was to do whatever was necessary to divert the attention of France (Fromage) southwards, towards Spain (Queso) so that the Swedes would be at liberty to increase their holdings in Northern Germany (K�se) without French interferrence. Polecat was the operative who was intercepting their messages and copying them for the Commission before they went on to their intended recipients. After some months, Polecat's cover was blown somehow, and the recent egg-throwing scandal staged to point the finger at Polecat as the guilty party. We believe the objective of this was to cast severe doubt upon any evidence he might give at trials arising from the Fromage affair. Needless to say, the attempt failed. "The Fromage plotters changed their message delivery system and we were unable to intercept their messages for a time, until their new messenger, a Monsieur Maquereau, was revealed in the course of an undercover operation staged by Jean de Lacey, Captain of the King's Escort. The paper you hold is a copy of the message which was found on Maquereau at the time of his arrest. "We have managed to break much of the code used by the Fromage Plotters: the country codes I've already outlined, Vodcheese is Chabot, V�sterbotten is the King of Sweden, Wensleydale is King Charles of England, Lou Pevre is His Majesty, the English spy Cheddar is almost certainly Duc Senior...." The two men gasped. "Yes, my friends, the tendrils of treason can reach up to the very highest in the land. Let this be your first lesson: No-one, no matter how high their position, is ever to be considered completely above suspicion..." After a moment of stunned silence, the Commissioner continued. "It is my belief that, following the failure to blacken his name, Polecat was subsequently kidnapped in order to silence him. I had hoped that Chabot would prove to be the kidnapper but unfortunately a thorough seach of his house revealed nothing. I now feel that Polecat is probably a captive of the shadowy figure referred to as Bouton d'Oc in the Fromage correspondence. Unfortunately, all efforts to determine the real identity of this traitor have so far proved fruitless. I was hoping that Chabot would unmask the man, but he proved stubborn to the end and, thanks to his previous service, His Majesty forbade the use of the wrack. I regret to say that he took his secret to the grave... "Or did he? The last paragraph of the Fromage message you hold may provide the clue we are looking for. I'll read it aloud: 'Finally, I must protest at your giving overall control of this operation to Bouton d'Oc. You must be aware that he entered your employ only after his plans to make an illicit fortune in Fromage came to naught? I fail to see how he can be expected to be more effective than I have been myself.' "It would appear that our friend Bouton d'Oc was involved in an unsuccessful embezzlement attempt before throwing in his lot with the King of Sweden! Someone, somewhere, must know something about this! Stoat, while you are the front I want you to make discrete enquiries about any attempts, whether successful or not, to defraud the army commissariat. It is possible that Bouton d'Oc is, or was, one of the army Quartermasters. Weasel, your duties in Paris will be to help me comb through the files and informer reports looking for _anything_ to do with embezzlement plots. And there is something else to consider. For reasons you need not be made aware of at present, I will be most interested in any rumours or evidence concerning involvement in embezzlement plots on the part of the following personages: His Eminence Cardinal Ximinez; The Minister of State (Duc von Fersen); The Minister of War (Duc de Mylcandonai); The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Comte de Custaad); The Minister of Finance and the Marine (Marquis Brouilles); and The Minister of His Majesty's Cabinet (Duc le Forban). So, are there any questions?" The two men, whitefaced, shook their heads gravely. "Good. I must emphasise the need for speedy results, Gentlemen. As you will no doubt be aware, Polecat's very life could depend upon a rapid and successful resolution of this mystery. Let's get to work!" _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
