Lingyeon Maung Maung - The True Story and the World-Known Spy Stories

(By Somerset Maugham)

Achindon had arrived to supervise the numerous spies in Switzerland. When Achindon was sent to Switzerland by the head of the spy office, A.R., he first had Achindon read all the reports he could find. Then he was given a large typewritten sheet of paper with the addresses of the people he was to contact. A.R. then told him about a man named Gustav, who was to be the main contact in the secret service.

“This man is the best of our people,” said Ar. “The information he gives is always full of facts and solid information, so you should read his reports as carefully as you can. Gustav is a great man, and we can’t imagine why other intelligence officers don’t give him the same valuable reports. It’s important to know exactly what information we want here.”

Thus, Achindon arrived in Switzerland and made contact with Gustav.

Gustav was living in Basel as a representative of a large Swiss business. The business had branches in Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Cologne. Because of these branches, Gustav was allowed to travel freely in and out of Germany, without any restrictions.

He traveled along the Rhine River, gathering information that the Allies wanted, such as the movements of German troops, the production of weapons and ammunition, and the state of public morale (which the Reich had insisted on).

Gustave occasionally wrote letters to his wife, which contained codes and ciphers. Gustave's wife, as soon as she received them, sent them to Achindon in Geneva. Achindon extracted the important points from the letters and sent them to the relevant intelligence agencies. Gustave returned home every two months and wrote reports. His reports, as A.R. said, were exemplary for other spies in the area. So effective was his work that he was paid more than other spies and was often given bonuses for some of the best news.

This went on for more than a year. At that moment, the head of the headquarters, Ar, suddenly thought of something suspicious. It was true that Gustav was a wonderfully quick-witted man. But this was not due to any special effort on his part, but rather to his natural quickness. This led to the thought that something was wrong in Ar's mind. Ar did not openly tell Achindon that such a thought had entered his mind (Ar kept all uncertain thoughts to himself).

However, because of this thought, Arr instructed Axinden to go and see Gustav's wife, who was currently in Germany, in Basel, Switzerland, as soon as possible. Arr allowed Axinden to decide what to say to her and how to say it, as he saw fit.

After arriving in Basel, Achindon left his suitcase at the station and took the tram. He left his suitcase because he was unsure whether he would have to return immediately or stay longer.

When he reached the top of the street where Gustaf was standing, Achindan got off the tram. He walked slowly down the street, making sure that no one was following him. The tenement houses on either side of the street looked rather poor. It seemed to be a neighborhood of clerks and small merchants. Achindan stopped suddenly in front of a shoemaker's shop.

"Is there a man named Grabow here?" he asked, his German accent completely intact.

"Yes, sir, I saw him go upstairs earlier. If you want to meet him, go upstairs."

Achindan suddenly felt confused. Because he had received a letter from Gustav's wife from Mannheim, Germany, the day before yesterday. The letter contained a coded message that the German troops had crossed the Rhine. Achindan was about to say something to the shoemaker, but he remembered, controlled himself, and, after a brief thank you, went up to Gustav's third floor without losing his composure.

When I rang the doorbell at the entrance to the room, the door immediately opened and a small, slender man appeared. He had a shaved head, wore glasses, and was wearing slippers.

"Is Har Grabouw, sir?" Achindon began to ask.

"Sure, what do you need?" Gustav replied.

“Let me in”

Gustav had his back to the light, so Axindan couldn't see the expression on his face. Then, after a moment of hesitation, Axindan said the name that Gustav had written from Germany. Then Gustav said... "Oh, come in, I'm so glad to see you."

Gustav led Achindon into a small room. In the room, in addition to the furniture made of oak, there was a large table with a typewriter on a green velvet tablecloth. Near the open window, a woman was seen knitting wool socks. But when Gustav said something, she took the newly knitted wool socks and the small things and left the room.

"Please sit down, sir. I am very lucky to be in Basel. I would like to meet you in person and become friends. I have just returned from Germany."

As he spoke, he pointed to the papers near the typewriter...

"You'll like the news I've just received. Some of the news I've received is quite valuable."

He took a sip and continued.

"No one will be disappointed if you get extra bonuses, you know."

His manner was friendly, one might say. But to Ashindan, his friendliness seemed unnatural. Gustave, behind his glasses, was looking at Ashindan, his eyes trying to smile. But Ashindan thought that there was a hint of insincerity in those eyes.

"You seem to have rushed here within hours of me reading those letters in Geneva, having inserted them from here and there, through your wife."

"That's very possible, sir. I have one thing to tell you here: the Germans suspect that their messages are being mixed in with business correspondence, sir. That's why they decided to hold all these messages at the border for exactly 48 hours."

“Oh, yes,” replied Achindon in a surprised tone. “So you are careful to date your letters two days in advance because of this situation.”

"Oh my, did I do this? If so, I'd be a fool. In fact, I must have set the date wrong."

Achindon smiled at Gustav. If what he said was true, Gustav was very clever. For a businessman like Gustav, he knew very well how important it was to have accurate dates in his writing. Especially when sending news from Germany, it was difficult to get the news quickly, as it had to go through many different routes. In such a situation, wouldn't it be especially important to know exactly when and on what date something important happened?

“Let me see your passport,” said Achindon.

Suddenly, he said, frowning.

“Wait, why do you want to see my passport?”

“I want to see when you entered Germany and when you left.”

"Oh... I don't want you to think that I'll be able to see where I've been and where I've come from on my passport, because I've crossed the border in various ways and by various routes."

This was well known to Achindon, who knew that both the Germans and the Swiss had placed heavy guards.

“Oh, yes, but you can go through the streets, right? You work legally for a large Swiss company and you always send necessary goods to Germany, so no one should be suspicious of your comings and goings. You can easily get there. As far as I know, the German guards at the German border will even help you, but I don’t know what will happen at the Swiss border.”

A sudden expression of anger appeared on Gustav's face.

"I can't understand you anymore. Are you saying that I'm working for the Germans? I swear, my honesty will never be compromised."

"But in reality, you're not the only one in this case who takes money from both sides and withholds valuable information from either side."