Vauban, Tracy, Jeff, and Gunther were seated at a rail-side table on the Bateau Mouche

Vauban, Tracy, Jeff, and Gunther were seated at a rail-side table on the Bateau Mouche, the sightseeing boat that cruises the Seine, circling Paris.

"If the pallet is sealed," Tracy asked, her voice crisp, "how do I get into it?"

"For last-minute shipments," Vauban replied, "the company uses what we call soft pallets, large wooden crates with canvas on one side, fastened down only with rope. For security reasons, valuable cargo like diamonds always arrives at the last minute so it is the last to go on and the first to come off."

Tracy said, "So the diamonds would be in a soft pallet?"

"That is correct, mademoiselle. As would you. I would arrange for the container with you in it to be placed next to the pallet with the diamonds. All you have to do when the plane is in flight is cut the ropes, open the pallet with the diamonds, exchange a box identical to theirs, get back in your container, and close it up again."

Gunther added, "When the plane lands in Amsterdam, the guards will pick up the substitute box of diamonds and deliver it to the diamond cutters. By the time they discover the substitution, we'll have you on an airplane out of the country. Believe me, nothing can go wrong."

A sentence that chilled Tracy's heart. "Wouldn't I freeze to death up there?" she asked.



sales funnel
vinterdæk