"In Berlin, it was raining,..." (Alan Furst)

"In Berlin, it was raining and it was going to rain -- a slow, sad, persistent business shining black on the bare trees and polishing the soot-colored roof tiles. Szara stared out a high window, watching umbrellas moving down the street like phantoms."

SOURCE: "Dark Star" (Alan Furst)

In 1937 Europe, Andre Szara is co-opted by the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and becomes a full-time spymaster in Paris. In this scene, as in so many others, he watches and waits.