June sunlight pours through the iron-and-glass roof of Sarajevo Main Railway Station. Porters push trunks toward the baggage hall as trains breathe steam into the vast concourse.
Fraulein Doktor arrives from Berlin with Mata Hari. Beside the baggage hall, Franz Hinkel waits beneath a timetable board, his diplomatic composure strained.
Franz Hinkel
Fraulein Doktor. Mata Hari. We must speak quickly. Governor Potiorek has dismissed every warning about the Black Hand.
A station clerk freezes beside a luggage cart. He points at Hinkel, then at a ledger clutched to his chest.
The Station Clerk
That is the man. He collected a diplomatic parcel yesterday under the name Viktor Savić.
The clerk opens the ledger. A folded timetable slips from its pages, marked with the Archduke's route from the railway station to Filipović Army Barracks, Appel Quay, and City Hall.
Franz Hinkel
I never collected it. Someone planted it to implicate the German consulate.
An Austrian policeman steps between the luggage carts. His hand closes around the butt of his revolver while Hinkel raises both empty hands.
The Austrian Policeman
Nobody leaves. Frau Doktor, tell me why your consul is carrying the Archduke's movements.
✓ Quest Accepted
Clear Hinkel of suspicion
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who planted the diplomatic parcel
“"That is my stage name. I am a theatrical agent." She gives him a business card. "I am attempting to find bookings for my client, Mata Hari, and Herr Hinkel kindly offered to assist us. I would remind you that the German Empire and the Austrian Empire are close allies, so it would be unwise to make accusations against German diplomats without proof. Herr Hinkel quite often collects diplomatic parcels. It is his job. But the information you refer to is local, it did not come in a parcel from Germany. Viktor Savić is a Serbian name, but Herr HInkel would have difficulty posing as a Serb, and has no reason to do so. I suggest you question your clerk more closely about the source of this."”
FAILURE (Fair Persuasion, rolled -2)
Fraulein Doktor
That is my stage name. I am a theatrical agent. I am attempting to find bookings for my client, Mata Hari, and Herr Hinkel kindly offered to assist us.
Fraulein Doktor extends her business card. The policeman takes it, but his revolver remains half-drawn.
Fraulein Doktor
The German and Austrian Empires are close allies. Herr Hinkel collects diplomatic parcels as part of his duty, but this local information did not come from Germany. Viktor Savić is a Serbian name, and Hinkel has no reason to pose as a Serb. Question the clerk about the parcel's source.
The Austrian Policeman
A card proves your cover story, not his innocence. You speak for the consul with remarkable confidence.
The Station Clerk
I saw Herr Hinkel at the baggage office. The parcel was entered under Viktor Savić, and the timetable was inside it.
The policeman turns the business card between his fingers, then thrusts it back toward Fraulein Doktor. His suspicion has shifted toward the clerk's records, but Hinkel remains trapped by the ledger entry.
The Austrian Policeman
Clerk, produce the receipt and tell me who handed you that parcel. Frau Doktor, keep your hands where I can see them. No one leaves until the name is accounted for.
“"I speak with confidence because I am a single woman trying to earn an honest living in a highly competitive business, and have learned that timidity brings me no profit. If you doubt anything I have said, you can ask my client to confirm it." She waits expectantly for Mata Hari to work some of her magic.”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +2)
Fraulein Doktor
I speak with confidence because I am a single woman earning an honest living in a competitive business. Timidity brings no profit. If you doubt me, ask my client.
Fraulein Doktor lets the challenge stand. The policeman's revolver dips a fraction, while Mata Hari steps forward from beside the luggage.
Mata Hari
She is telling you the truth. I hired her to find me respectable engagements, and Herr Hinkel offered introductions. That is the entire arrangement.
Mata Hari's calm, practiced sincerity reaches the policeman before the clerk can interrupt. His eyes leave Fraulein Doktor and settle on the receipt book.
The Austrian Policeman
You vouch for her, then. Very well. The consul's connection to this parcel is no longer established by your testimony alone.
The clerk turns a page and finds the receipt beneath the ledger flap. A second handwriting appears beside Viktor Savić's name, followed by a delivery mark the clerk has not yet explained.
The Station Clerk
There. The signature is not Herr Hinkel's. But I can tell you who brought the parcel, if you will let me point him out.
“Fraulein Doktor looks around for anyone in the vicinity who may be acting suspiciously.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +3)
Fraulein Doktor lets her gaze travel beyond the receipt book, across the baggage hall's exits, benches, and waiting passengers. She searches for behavior that does not belong.
Therefore, the ordinary bustle separates into patterns. Porters work openly. Travelers watch the armed policeman. One man does neither.
Near the parcels office, a civilian stands beside a luggage pillar with an empty hand held as if it still carries weight. He keeps his face turned away from the clerk, but watches the receipt book in the reflection of the glass.
The Station Clerk
That is him. The man who delivered the parcel.
The clerk points across the hall. The civilian notices the gesture, stiffens, and shifts toward the side passage instead of the public doors.
The Austrian Policeman
Do not lose sight of him. Fraulein Doktor, you found what we needed. Can you identify him before he reaches that passage?
“"I can try." She follows the man, noting such details as his clothing, his stature and gait, the case he is carrying and any distinguishing details.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +1)
Fraulein Doktor
I can try.
Fraulein Doktor follows at a measured distance into the side passage. The man's gray jacket is too well cut for a porter, his shoulders narrow, his height slightly below hers. He walks with a careful, inward-turned right foot.
His left hand carries a small black dispatch case. A brass corner is worn bright, and a red thread is caught beneath its handle. He glances back once, revealing a pale crescent scar beside his right ear.
She records the details, but her shoe catches a loose strip of flooring. The crack echoes through the passage, and the parcel deliverer breaks into a hurried stride.
Viktor Savić
You have mistaken me for someone else.
He reaches the passage mouth and turns just enough for the station clerk to see him clearly. The clerk's frightened certainty hardens into recognition, while the Austrian policeman's suspicion shifts away from Hinkel.
The Austrian Policeman
Stay where you are. Fraulein Doktor, is this the man you can identify?
“"It is he!" Fraulein Doktor now expects him to attempt an escape and therefore hooks the handle of her parasol around his ankle.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
Fraulein Doktor
It is he!
Fraulein Doktor snaps her parasol low. Its hooked handle catches the deliverer's ankle before he can launch himself through the passage mouth.
His stride folds beneath him. The dispatch case tears free, skids across the tiles, and strikes the wall with a sharp metallic crack.
Viktor Savić
No! That case is mine!
The Austrian Policeman reaches him as he sprawls, planting a boot across the case's strap and wrenching the man's empty hand behind his back. The escape is over.
The parasol's hooked handle is bent out of shape, and its loud scrape has drawn the station clerk to the passage mouth. Beside the fallen case, the bright brass corner and red thread match the receipt's delivery mark.
The Austrian Policeman
You delivered the parcel under Viktor Savić's name. Who gave it to you?
Quest Complete
Clear Hinkel of suspicion
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Good→Great
+ New Item Acquired
Bent parasol