Dr. Gerde's secured office smells of sealing wax and rain-damp wool. The numbered evidence folder rests on his desk, untouched. Viktor Savić stands beside it, his right wrist held behind his back by The Austrian Policeman's hand.
Dr. Edmund Gerde
You have a few minutes, Fraulein Doktor. The governor's representatives will expect this folder, and they will not welcome delay.
Viktor keeps his eyes on the sealed folder. A faint red fiber clings to his cuff, matching the thread Gerde found around the route schedule.
Viktor Savić
I carried what I was paid to carry. I did not read it. The man who gave it to me said the name on the case would protect him.
The Austrian Policeman
Then give us his name. You are already in custody, and the governor's office will decide what happens next.
Before Viktor answers, footsteps stop outside the locked door. A folded request slides beneath it, bearing the governor's seal and demanding immediate transfer of the prisoner and evidence. The route information is now a prize claimed by two authorities, while Viktor's guarded silence points toward the hand that planted it.
“Fraulein Doktor ignores the note. "Tell me, Viktor, can you describe the man who hired you?"”
FAILURE (Fair Interrogation, rolled -1)
Fraulein Doktor
Tell me, Viktor, can you describe the man who hired you?
The governor's request remains beneath the door. Viktor lifts his eyes from the red fiber, but the policeman's grip tightens before he can answer.
Viktor Savić
A railway man. Dark coat. Perhaps a mustache. I saw him only in the rain.
The description dissolves into useless generalities. Gerde reaches for his pen, then stops as Viktor's face tightens with sudden alarm.
Viktor Savić
No. That is not right. He wore no uniform. He spoke Serbian, but he gave the name Milan Jovanović.
The Austrian Policeman
You hear that? A name at last. Write it down before he changes it again.
Gerde records Milan Jovanović, Belgrade, then looks from the ink to Viktor's shaking face. The witness has offered a lead, but his testimony is already compromised.
Dr. Edmund Gerde
Fraulein Doktor, do we trust the name, or the fear that made him say it?
“"To whom were you to deliver it?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Interrogation, rolled +1)
Fraulein Doktor
To whom were you to deliver it?
Viktor swallows. The question forces him past the borrowed name and toward the handoff itself.
Viktor Savić
To a man waiting near Appel Quay. I was to say, “The timetable is safe.” He would answer, “The river runs east.”
Gerde's pen scratches the code phrase into the ledger. Viktor's answer gives the intended meeting place and signal, but not the hand that planted the parcel.
Viktor Savić
I never saw him. The Belgrade contact arranged everything through Milan Jovanović.
The policeman jerks Viktor upright, and the evidence folder slips against the desk edge with a sharp slap. His suspicion now fixes on the room's prisoner.
Dr. Edmund Gerde
Then Milan is the contact, not necessarily the planter. Fraulein Doktor, the governor's men will be here before we can test this lead.
Beyond the locked door, two unfamiliar voices stop outside. A knuckle taps once against the wood, then waits.
“Fraulein Doktor glances at Mata Hari, hoping she can coax more evidence from the suspect. Meanwhile, she examines the red thread.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +2)
The waiting silence beyond the door holds. Fraulein Doktor glances toward Mata Hari, then lifts the red thread from the evidence folder for a closer examination.
Under the office lamp, the fiber shows a faint blue residue trapped in its twist. It was cut from a dyed cord, not torn from ordinary packing twine.
Mata Hari
You remember the cord, Viktor. The man from Belgrade used it himself.
Mata lowers her voice and lets the question hang. Viktor's free hand tightens against the desk, while his eyes flick toward the sealed folder.
Viktor Savić
Milan gave me the cord. He said it marked his packages. Red thread, blue dye, always the same.
The thread turns the vague courier into a specific channel. Milan Jovanović arranged the delivery and supplied its identifying mark, though Viktor still cannot say whether Milan planted the parcel himself.
The Austrian Policeman
That is enough to name him in the report. Open the door, Gerde. The governor's representatives are done waiting.
+ New Item Acquired
Red thread
“"These are also the colors displayed by the Serbian nationalists, I believe."”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Fraulein Doktor
These are also the colors displayed by the Serbian nationalists, I believe.
The comparison lands. The blue residue and red cord now point toward a Serbian nationalist channel, not merely a private courier's trick.
Dr. Edmund Gerde
A useful association, Fraulein Doktor. Also one that will draw attention to everyone who makes it.
Her inference sharpens the report, but the room turns against her. The Austrian Policeman shifts his grip on Viktor, watching her as if she has revealed more than the thread.
The lock turns from the other side. Gerde reaches the door, and the sealed request is no longer a demand waiting outside.
Governor's Representative
By order of General Potiorek, the prisoner and evidence folder are to be transferred immediately. Is Milan Jovanović the name you have recorded?
✓ Quest Accepted
Retain Viktor Savić for further questioning
“"A moment, please. Dr. Gerde has discovered some complications. Mata Hari has witnessed these events and will explain them to you." Once again, she turns to her "client" for a distraction.”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +2)
Fraulein Doktor
A moment, please. Dr. Gerde has discovered some complications. Mata Hari has witnessed these events and will explain them to you.
The representative's warrant lowers a fraction. Fraulein Doktor's calm redirection gives the demand a procedural shape, and refusing it would now look like refusal to hear a witness.
Governor's Representative
Very well. Let the witness speak. The transfer will wait until I understand what has complicated this matter.
Mata Hari steps between the evidence table and the open doorway, turning the representative's attention away from Viktor and the sealed folder.
Mata Hari
The parcel was not a simple delivery. The courier changed his account, the name Milan Jovanović emerged under pressure, and a red cord bearing blue dye links the package to a Serbian nationalist channel.
Governor's Representative
You are saying the courier may have named a contact to save himself, while the cord points to a wider network.
Mata Hari
I am saying Dr. Gerde has recorded both facts, and that removing the prisoner or folder before the record is examined could destroy the only reliable path to the planter.
The representative accepts the explanation and keeps the threshold clear for questioning rather than ordering the transfer. Behind him, footsteps approach from the corridor, and the waiting officers remain unseen.
Quest Complete
Retain Viktor Savić for further questioning
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Fair→Good