An Officer and a Spy

‘Then Major Henry will escort him to Cherche-Midi prison,’ said du Paty, ‘while Cochefort and I go to the Dreyfus apartment and search it for evidence. I’ll warn his wife to say nothing of what has happened to her husband, or she’ll make it far worse for him. At Cherche-Midi, the governor has agreed to keep Dreyfus in solitary confinement twenty-four hours a day — no letters, no visitors, no lawyers. Nobody will know where he is, not even the commander of the Paris garrison. As far as the world is concerned, Captain Alfred Dreyfus will have vanished from the face of the earth.’

Having delivered himself of this masterpiece, du Paty closed his file and sat back in his chair.

I glanced around the table. Mercier and Boisdeffre were impassive, Gonse lighting a cigarette, Sandherr gripping the arms of his chair and shaking slightly, Henry watching him with concern, Cochefort with his arms folded and looking at the floor.

Mercier said, ‘Does anyone have any questions?’

I hesitated, and then tentatively I raised my hand. I never could resist the opportunity to goad du Paty whenever I had the chance.

‘Yes, Major. . Picquart, is it?’

‘It is. Thank you, Minister. I wondered,’ I said, turning towards du Paty, ‘what happens if Dreyfus doesn’t confess?’

Du Paty gave me a cold look. ‘He will confess. He has no choice.’

‘But if he doesn’t. .?’

‘If he doesn’t,’ interrupted Sandherr, staring down the table at me and apparently trembling with emotion, ‘we have plenty of other evidence, apart from his handwriting, that demonstrates his guilt.’

I decided not to press it further. I nodded. ‘Thank you.’

A long pause followed.

‘Anyone else?’ asked Mercier, the eye slits sweeping past each of us in turn. ‘No? Chief? No? In that case, gentlemen, you are authorised to proceed with the plan, as outlined by Colonel du Paty, at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.’

And with that he signed the arrest warrant and tossed it down the table towards du Paty.

The next day was the most perfect crystalline autumn morning one could ever wish for — cool, with a clear sky and a promise of warmth to come, the early sun already starting to part the layers of mist draped across the Seine.

When I arrived at the ministry soon after eight, I found du Paty in the main lobby, in a state of high nervous excitement, marshalling his troops. Three were in civilian dress — Cochefort and his deputy, and a cadaverous clerk whom I took to be Gribelin, even though we were not introduced. Henry and I were both in uniform. Henry looked bemused, and at one point, as du Paty outlined for the second or third time what he wanted us to do, he caught my eye and gave me the tremor of a wink.

‘So, Picquart, make sure you arrive with Dreyfus at the Chief of Staff’s office on the stroke of nine,’ were du Paty’s parting words to me. ‘Not a minute either side, understood? I want this thing to go off like clockwork!’

Du Paty and the others disappeared upstairs and I settled down on one of the green leather benches to wait. I had a commanding view of the courtyard leading to the rue Saint-Dominique. I pretended to read a newspaper. The minutes dragged by. The whole of the army seemed to pass before me — doddery and white-whiskered old generals, gallant colonels of dragoons flushed by the cold after an early morning canter in the Bois de Boulogne, keen-faced young captains carrying stacks of files for their masters — and then suddenly, in the midst of this parade, came Dreyfus: incongruous, hesitant, frowning, already looking like an outcast, shorn of his uniform, wearing an immaculate black frock coat, striped trousers and a bowler hat. He might have been a stockbroker. I glanced at my watch and cursed. He was fifteen minutes early.

I folded my newspaper and rose as he came through the door. Obviously he was taken aback to meet me. He touched his bowler in salute.

‘Major Picquart, good morning.’ And then, glancing around the crowded lobby, he added, ‘I fear some of the fellows may be playing a joke on me. I had a telegram on Saturday, supposedly from General Boisdeffre’s office, telling me to report for a staff review wearing civilian clothes, but nobody else seems to have received it.’

‘That sounds odd,’ I said. ‘May I see?’

Dreyfus pulled the telegram out of his pocket book and handed it over: Summons. The Division General, Chief of the Army General Staff, will conduct an inspection of the officers on duty with the Staff during the day of Monday 15 October. M. Captain Dreyfus, currently with the 39th Regiment of the Infantry in Paris, is invited to be present on that date at 9 a.m., in the office of the Chief of the Army General. Civilian dress. .