Chapter 288 - 71: BND and the East German Spy (3)

Chapter 288: Chapter 71: BND and the East German Spy (3)

The BND began investigating Weiss.

They dug up all of Weiss’s academic activity records from the past few years and found a few suspicious things:

Weiss would travel to East Germany for "academic visits" three to four times a year, staying for one to two weeks each time.

During his time in East Germany, he would meet with many East German officials and scholars, including some who worked for the State Planning Commission and the Ministry for Foreign Trade.

After returning to West Germany, Weiss would always publish articles shortly thereafter. Certain viewpoints in these articles were highly consistent with the internal policy directives of the East German Government.

What was even more suspicious was that in several articles, Weiss mentioned data that only an East German insider could know—such as the true production output of a certain factory, the unemployment rate of a specific region, or the implementation details of a particular policy.

This data couldn’t possibly be obtained through public channels.

BND analysts came to a conclusion: Weiss was very likely an informant for East Germany. He was using academic exchanges as a cover to gather intelligence on West Germany. At the same time, he was transmitting East Germany’s internal information back to the West to influence how academia and politicians in West Germany perceived the East German state.

But the BND had no hard evidence proving that Weiss was in direct contact with East German intelligence personnel. They decided to increase their surveillance on Weiss to see if they could catch him in the act.

Weiss soon sensed the danger.

At the end of July, Weiss submitted an application for early retirement to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, citing "health reasons."

The university approved his application.

Weiss sold his house in Munich and moved to Switzerland, where he began to live a secluded life.

The third thread of Autumn Leaves was severed.

*******************

Werner crossed the last name off his notebook.

Three coordinators, all taken care of.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh.

It had been exactly two months since Anna had warned him about Operation Autumn Leaves.

For the past two months, he had spent every day in a state of high tension.

He had to act as if everything was normal—working, attending meetings, and dealing with West German businessmen as usual—all while secretly planning, step-by-step, to dismantle the Autumn Leaves network.

One wrong move at any point, and he would have been finished.

But he had succeeded.

Of the three coordinators, two were now being targeted by West German intelligence, and one had voluntarily withdrawn.

The entire Autumn Leaves network had crumbled before it could even be fully deployed.

And the whole process had looked completely "natural"—Hausen was exposed due to tax problems, Stein was caught on surveillance, and Weiss had slipped up in public.

There was no sign that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

**************

One afternoon in early August, Von Brown convened an emergency meeting at Stasi Headquarters.

The conference room was packed—department heads from the Stasi and several senior members of Koko. Gunter was also there, with Werner sitting next to him.

Von Brown stood at one end of the conference table, his expression grim.

"Comrades, I’ve called you all here today to report a very serious matter." His voice was cold. "Operation Autumn Leaves has failed."

The room fell silent.

Von Brown threw a file on the table. "Our three coordinators: Hausen in Hamburg was arrested by West Germany, Stein in Bonn was forced to withdraw, and Weiss in Munich voluntarily fled to Switzerland. The entire network collapsed before it was even deployed."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "This is no coincidence. For all three of them to run into trouble one after another within two months... it’s obvious someone is pulling strings behind the scenes."

Werner sat there with a blank expression, his heart pounding violently, but on the surface, he showed no sign of alarm.

"There’s a leak," Von Brown said, his words deliberate and sharp. "Someone sold intelligence on Operation Autumn Leaves to West Germany. I will find this traitor."

The atmosphere in the room grew even more oppressive.

A Stasi department head asked, "Comrade Von Brown, is it possible they were just careless and exposed themselves?"

"Impossible," Von Brown said coldly. "Hausen has been a spy for ten years and has always been careful. How could he suddenly slip up on a tax issue? Stein is even more cautious and never leaves a trace. How could he get caught on West German surveillance? And Weiss is an old, experienced professor. How could he misspeak in public?"

He rapped his knuckles on the table. "These are all too coincidental. Unnaturally so. Someone must have known their identities and set targeted traps for them."

Another official said, "Then we should start investigating internally. Not many people knew about Operation Autumn Leaves, so it should be easy to narrow down the suspects."

"The investigation has already begun," Von Brown said. "But you all know that intelligence work is complex. A leak can happen in many ways. It isn’t necessarily a direct betrayal. It could also be that some information was unintentionally revealed, which West Germany then pieced together."

He looked at Gunter. "Comrade Gunter, any unusual situations on Koko’s end?"

Gunter shook his head. "No. We’ve been very careful."

Von Brown then turned to Werner. "Comrade Werner, you have the most contact with West Germany. Have you noticed anything suspicious recently?"

Werner met his gaze and said calmly, "No, Comrade Von Brown. If I were to discover anything suspicious, I would report it immediately."

Von Brown stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Everyone, be on high alert," Von Brown said. "The internal investigation will continue for some time. If anyone has something to hide, it would be best to confess now. Don’t wait for us to find you."

After the meeting, Werner and Gunter walked out of the conference room together.

Gunter lowered his voice. "Von Brown is furious this time. ’Autumn Leaves’ was his brainchild, and it was dead in the water before it could even begin. The higher-ups are definitely not happy with him."

"Mm," Werner said. "We just need to be careful."

Gunter glanced at him. "Your recent contacts with West Germany—is everything documented?"

"Of course," Werner said. "All call logs, meeting records, and transaction documents. I’ve kept everything perfectly organized. They’sre available anytime, if needed."

"Good." Gunter clapped him on the shoulder. "I trust you. But you know how it is. At a time like this, it’s always safer to have records."

Werner nodded.

Von Brown had already begun to suspect a traitor in their midst, but for now, his suspicion hadn’t fallen on Werner.

Werner knew that in the coming days, he had to appear even more loyal and cooperative. He couldn’t afford to show any cracks.

**************

As he walked out of the Stasi Building, Werner looked up at the sky.

It was a muggy August day in Berlin. Dark clouds hung low, threatening rain.

Werner walked to the parking lot, got into his car, and lit a cigarette.

All he could do now was wait.

Wait for the results of Von Brown’s investigation.

Wait for the Autumn Leaves incident to slowly blow over.

Wait for news from Anna.

The thought of Anna made Werner’s chest tighten.

Ever since Operation Autumn Leaves began to unravel, Anna hadn’t contacted him once.

Her situation in West Germany must be extremely dangerous.

With Autumn Leaves sabotaged, the Stasi would surely investigate all their informants in West Germany to see if any of them had turned traitor.

As a deep-cover agent embedded in West Germany, Anna would certainly be among those under investigation.

If the Stasi discovered her connection to the failure of Autumn Leaves...

Werner didn’t dare to think any further.

He stubbed out his cigarette, started the car, and drove back to his apartment.

The apartment was empty. He was alone.

Werner walked to the bedroom, opened a hidden compartment in the nightstand, and took out the black telephone.

He stared at the phone for a long time, his finger hovering over the rotary dial, but in the end, he didn’t make the call.

’I can’t contact Anna.’

’At such a sensitive time, any contact could expose her.’

He could only wait.

Wait for her to contact him.

’If she’s still alive.’