And one fateful Sunday, having no tourists to draw, he wandered into a narrow street near the soaring Gothic cathedral and stumbled upon the answer to his worries. It took the form of a building, red geraniums in the first and second story windows, a quaint stone fountain opposite the fortress-like door. A wall plaque in German memorialized someone, he gathered, who had done something important centuries ago.
He thumbed through his tattered guidebook for a clearer explanation and found an updated history: “Allen Dulles, younger brother of John Foster Dulles, former American secretary of state, ran the Swiss branch of the OSS, the Organization of Strategic Services, forerunner to the CIA, from this flat at 23 Herrengasse.”
The short commentary—courage, daring, and plotting were implied—fi
