The provided excerpts from Robert Ludlum's The Tristan Betrayal detail a complex espionage operation across two distinct historical settings: World War II Paris under Nazi occupation and late 1940 Moscow amid escalating Cold War tensions. The narrative centers on Stephen Metcalfe, an American agent operating undercover as an international playboy named Daniel Eigen, who is working for a clandestine American ring led by Corcoran. In Paris, Metcalfe engages in secret document retrieval from a Vichy official's mansion and evades Gestapo agents like Kleist while maintaining a cover with his French contacts. The story shifts dramatically to Moscow, where Metcalfe is tasked with manipulating the German diplomat von Schiissler through his former lover, the ballerina Lana Baranova, to plant forged Soviet military documents (Operation WOLFSFALLE) intended to provoke a premature Nazi invasion of Russia. This dangerous mission involves dealing with Soviet intelligence (GRU agent Kundrov and NKVD Chief Investigator Rubashov), navigating the paranoia of the Soviet state, and confronting the ultimate betrayal that leads to Lana's sacrifice to legitimize the fabricated intelligence.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.