An Officer and a Spy
lengths to falsely implicate a man I had never even met?’
‘That is for you to tell us.’
‘The notion is absurd. I had no need to forge any evidence. The bordereau alone is proof of Esterhazy’s guilt – and no one can suggest I altered that!’
‘Ah yes, the bordereau ,’ says Pellieux, sorting through his papers. ‘Thank you for bringing that up. Did you, either directly or indirectly, pass a facsimile of the bordereau to Le Matin in November last year?’
‘No, General.’
‘Did you, directly or indirectly, pass details of the so-called “secret dossier” to L’Éclair that same September?’
‘I did not.’
‘Have you passed information, directly or indirectly, to Senator Scheurer-Kestner?’
The question is inevitable; so is my answer. ‘Yes, I have, indirectly.’
‘And the intermediary was your lawyer, Maître Leblois?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you knew when you gave this information to Leblois that it would be passed to the senator?’
‘I wanted the facts placed in the hands of a responsible person who could raise the matter confidentially with the government. I never intended the details to reach the press.’
‘Never mind what you intended, Colonel. The fact is, you went behind the backs of your superior officers.’
‘Only when it became clear that I had no alternative – that my superiors would not fully investigate this whole affair.’
‘You showed Maître Leblois various letters sent to you by General Gonse?’
‘Yes.’
‘Just as last year you showed Maître Leblois the secret dossier, the existence of which he then leaked to L’Éclair ?’
‘No.’
‘But there is a witness who saw you showing the secret file to Leblois.’
‘I showed him one file only – it was not secret. It related to carrier pigeons, of all things. Major Henry witnessed that.’
‘ Colonel Henry,’ Pellieux corrects me. ‘He has just been promoted. And I am not interested in pigeons but in the secret dossier about Dreyfus. You showed it to your lawyer last September, who then revealed it either to the Dreyfus family or to L’Éclair in order to embarrass the army. That is your modus operandi.’
‘I deny that absolutely.’
‘Who is Blanche?’
Once again the sudden switch in his angle of attack catches me off balance. I say slowly, ‘The only Blanche I know is Mademoiselle Blanche de Comminges, the sister of the comte de Comminges.’
‘She is a friend of yours?’
‘Yes.’
‘An intimate friend?’
‘I have known her a long time, if that is what you mean. She has a musical salon attended by a number of officers.’
‘She sent you this telegram in Tunisia: We have proof that the bleu was forged by Georges. Blanche. What are we to make of that?’
‘I received a telegram with that wording. But I am sure it was not from her.’
‘Why?’
‘Because she knows nothing of the secret details of the Dreyfus case nor of my involvement in it.’
‘Even though she has gone around Paris quite openly, I understand, for several years now, telling people of her conviction that Dreyfus is innocent?’
‘She has her opinion. That has nothing to do with me.’
‘This salon of hers – does it include many Jews?’
‘A few perhaps – among the musicians.’
Pellieux makes another note, as if I have just conceded something highly significant. He searches through his file. ‘Here is another coded telegram sent to you in Tunisia: Stop the Demigod. Everything is discovered. Extremely serious matter. Speranza. Who is Speranza?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘And yet this person wrote to you a year ago, shortly after you left the Statistical Section.’
‘No.’
‘Yes, they did. I have the letter here.’ Pellieux gives it to the captain, who once again walks round to hand it to me:
I am leaving the house. Our friends are dismayed. Your unfortunate departure has upset everything. Hasten your return, hurry! As the holiday time is very favourable for the cause, we are counting on you for the 20th. She is ready but cannot and will not act until she has talked to you. Once the Demigod has spoken, we will act.
Speranza
Pellieux stares at me. ‘What do you say to that?’
‘I don’t know what to say. I’ve never seen it before.’
‘No, you wouldn’t have done. It was intercepted by the Statistical Section last December and a decision was taken not to forward it to you, due to the highly suspicious nature of the language. But still your position remains that none
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