Eventually Colonel Fraser slapped the papers down on the desk with an oath, and didn't even bother to apologize. His face was flaming red, and his eyes glittered like ice cubes in the sun.
"Incredible, unbelievable!" he finally exploded. "Good heavens! There's almost as much information about things here in England as we know ourselves. That Herr Baron is a devil, I swear. He's—he's almost superhuman, the rascal!"
"Information about what, sir?" Major Crandall asked, after he had waited a polite moment.
Colonel Fraser slapped a hand on the little black book.
"About American and R.A.F. forces in England!" he cried. "The location of every drome, the types of planes, the commanding officer, signal codes and—everything! Why, I can hardly believe it! It must have taken his agents months of blastedly clever work to gather all that data!"
The colonel suddenly cut himself off short. A lot of the anger and the red faded from his face, and in the next moment he actually smiled.
"But not too clever, I fancy," he said. "The Nazi is a strange creature. He can make himself perfect in all things except one. I mean that in his make-up there is always one very strong failing. And that's why they never win in the end, because they always make one costly slip. The weak link breaks, you might say, and all the rest goes to pot. In Herr Baron the weak link was his tendency to put details down on paper. As Wilson said, the chap didn't care to trust to memory. Listed here are the names and addresses of every one of his agents in England. He even has listed the contact points that his agents use to get across the Channel to Occupied France."
"You unearthed a gold mine for the colonel, Dave!" Freddy Farmer cried excitedly. "Now British Intelligence can throw out a dragnet and catch every—No?"
Young Farmer checked himself and spoke the last as Dawson made a wry face and shook his head.
"No, Freddy," Dave said sadly. "Unless Herr Baron is a complete dope, which he sure isn't. You're forgetting that the rat got away from us, Freddy. He'll discover that his little book is gone, and the first thing he'll do is to make sure his agents clear out and clear out fast. Am I right, Colonel?"