Page 30 - The Kellner Affair Sample Pages

CHAPTER 20: MIsERy
New Year’s Eve was spent in Marseille with Gabriel Rivière who had fallen on hard times as the Association des Marins de France had folded. Marie-Madeleine had previously helped him acquire a grocery store so he could survive. (Peter Larsen)
On his way back to Madrid, Boutron stopped in Vaison-la- Romaine, the hamlet where his mother lived. He was uneasy about what 1942 would bring. (Peter Larsen)
with Boutron’s old friend Gabriel Rivière. It was an evening of mixed blessings, and the mood was not helped by the thought of all those who remained in prison, including Jean Schoofs’ wife and fellow conspirators in Phill. It was cold comfort that the Vichy authorities would be less inclined to execute prisoners such as Loustaunau- Lacau than their Nazi masters in Paris. Also, there was still no news of what had happened to Henri Schaerrer. The Association des Marins de France (A.M.F) that Rivière and Boutron had co- founded had fallen apart, and for Rivière life was not as easy as it had been. One bright spot was that the sous-réseau in Marseille continued to function well. When Alliance was rst nanced by the British, Marie-Madeleine had given Rivière enough cash to buy the lease of a green grocer shop. It served a dual purpose. On the one hand Rivière and his family would eat. On the other it provided good cover, and he would now take up transmitting information from Marseille. Now, Marie-Madeleine’s intention was to go to Tarbes, stay undercover and rebuild Alliance.
Boutron said his goodbyes and left Marseille on the rst day of the new year, uneasy about what 1942 would bring. He made a detour to Vaison-la-Romaine, to see his mother. On January 2, he pointed the Citroën towards Madrid. His cell there was intact, and the Admiral suspected nothing. Using Yvonne Charaudeau’s boutique as cover and Zette as go-between, he would be able to continue to supply Walter Sleator with information. In the British Embassy
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