Adventure of Fraulein Doktor 1

The delivery lane narrows between the quay wall and stacked river crates. The narrow-faced contact reaches the waiting figure, red cord bright against his cuff.

The contact freezes. Across the traffic, the Austrian Policeman steps into the lane, but pedestrians and wagons cut off his clean approach.

The travel case opens a fraction. Inside, beneath folded linen, lies a second red cord and a folded street plan marked with the Archduke's planned route. The contact spots Fraulein Doktor through the crowd and reaches for the case.

The passing wagon rolls between Fraulein Doktor and the river crates. She slips behind its canvas side, keeping the narrow-faced contact framed through a gap in the slats.

The wagon jolts over a rut. Her parasol strikes a wheel hub with a sharp knock, and the driver curses without looking back.

The contact abandons the travel case and steps toward the wagon's rear, keeping the crates between himself and the Austrian Policeman. Fraulein Doktor reaches the next gap and closes the distance.

Fraulein Doktor is now close enough to see the contact's face clearly. She has never seen him before. Behind her cover, the wagon driver turns at the noise, and the Austrian Policeman points toward her position.

The pistol clears Fraulein Doktor's coat and cracks once. The shot misses the contact's leg, punching through the wagon's rear slat and showering him with splinters.

He recoils toward the river lane. As his coat swings open, a brass railway token flashes at his waist, stamped BELGRADE and PLATFORM 3.

Fraulein Doktor throws the pistol into the wagon's dark cargo space and runs after him, raising the alarm exactly as planned.

The contact abandons caution and races for the river steps. The travel-case bearer clamps the case shut but remains rooted beside the crates, while the policeman turns to block them.

Fraulein Doktor reaches the travel case before the bearer can retreat, her hand closing around its brass handle.

But the bearer twists away with desperate strength. The handle tears loose in Fraulein Doktor's grip, and the case drops hard against the quay stones.

The broken latch springs open. A folded route plan, threaded in red and blue, slides from the case and skitters beneath the wagon's rear axle.

The bearer lunges after it, abandoning the case. Their shoulder knocks Fraulein Doktor sideways, while the loose plan catches on a wheel rut above the river gutter.

Fraulein Doktor drops flat beside the wagon wheel and sweeps the loose sheets clear of the rut before the river gutter can take them.

The red-and-blue threads snag on her glove. She draws the entire folded plan free, along with a second slip hidden beneath it.

But the slip bears a delivery notation in the same blue dye as the cord: Milan Jovanović, Appel Quay, then Belgrade railway dispatch.

The bearer reaches for the papers, but the Austrian Policeman catches them from behind and locks their arms against their sides. The river steps are no longer an avenue of escape.

Fraulein Doktor points the Austrian Policeman toward the arrested bearer, then turns to the scattered evidence and her abandoned pistol.

He tightens the arm-lock, then transfers the route plan, blue-dyed slip, and BELGRADE, PLATFORM 3 token into the travel case. The bearer is secured for transport.

Fraulein Doktor retrieves her .32 Mauser from the wagon bed. The Austrian Policeman closes the case and lifts it by its remaining handle.

Together they leave the quay lane. The crowd closes behind them, cutting off the river steps and ending the contact's escape route.

At the Central Police Station, Dr. Gerde receives the restrained bearer, the travel case, and the recovered pistol. The marked route and its Belgrade railway handoff are now before him.

Fraulein Doktor holds up the BELGRADE, PLATFORM 3 token. Gerde reads it, then looks from the mark to the railway timetable in the open case.

Gerde seizes the telephone and orders every platform exit watched. The Austrian Policeman takes the travel case and moves for the station doors, while the bearer remains under his arm-lock.

A station bell rings beyond the office. The interception is underway, and the quay pursuit ends as the police close the station routes around Milan's expected handoff.

Fraulein Doktor cuts through the station concourse as the bell summons passengers. Her rapid passage scatters a porter and sends a stack of luggage sliding across the tiles.

She reaches Platform 3 before the departing train can take Milan Jovanović away. He stands beside the platform office, clutching a dispatch envelope and turning toward the carriage steps.

Fraulein Doktor seizes his sleeve. The Austrian Policeman arrives an instant later, traps Milan's arm, and pulls him back from the train.

The train begins to move without him. The cost of the pursuit is immediate: the fallen luggage and shouted arrest draw a ring of staring passengers around the platform.