The Quiller Memorandum

British intelligence confirms the failure of two agents in Berlin and assigns Quiller to report to Pol, the local controller, and continue the mission. His objective is to uncover the headquarters of Phoenix, the neo-Nazi network. The assignment marks the start of a tense cat-and-mouse pursuit through Cold War Berlin.

Quiller leaves the Konigshof Hotel and discovers Hengel, his minder, tailing him. Hengel hands over the few personal items left by the dead predecessor: a bowling alley ticket, a swimming pool ticket, and a newspaper article about a Nazi war criminal teaching at a school. These hints point toward Phoenix and the network in Berlin.

Posing as a correspondent, Quiller visits the school mentioned in the newspaper article and interviews a teacher who can speak English, Inge Lindt. The headmistress introduces Inge and, after the interview, Quiller drives her to her flat and stops for a drink. The encounter threads together personal danger and potential Phoenix contacts.

Returning to the hotel, Quiller is tailed again and a porter with a suitcase bumps into him. The man injects a drug, and Quiller collapses at a traffic stop as an unseen car abducts him. The vengeful Phoenix network has him in its clutches.

Quiller is dumped in a dilapidated mansion and wakes among Phoenix members led by Oktober. A doctor administers truth serum and Quiller mutters a few clues before Oktober decides to spare him. The encounter reveals the ruthless, ritualistic control Phoenix holds.

Quiller regains consciousness by the Berlin Spree and escapes by stealing a taxi, then checks into a squalid hotel. He phones Inge and arranges to meet that evening at her flat. He confesses that he is investigating neo-Nazis, and Inge becomes a potential ally.

Hassler, the swimming-pool attendant who knows Inge, drives them to an old contact who can reveal more. The contact turns out to be Inge's headmistress, who claims she helped prosecute the teacher from the article and directs them toward Phoenix's dilapidated mansion. Her familiarity with the case confirms the headmistress is a key waypoint in locating Phoenix.

Quiller enters the Phoenix mansion with Inge and Hassler leaving a car for them. Inside, Phoenix thugs confront him, and Oktober reveals that Phoenix plans to move base the next day. In a cruel ultimatum, Inge is captured and Quiller must reveal his own base by dawn.

Followed by Oktober's men, Quiller escapes, returns to his hotel, and slips into the garage. He rigs a bomb beneath his car to ensure it detonates when the engine runs, then escapes the blast area. The attackers believe him dead as the wreckage burns.

Quiller reports the location of the building where he met Oktober to Pol in a secret Berlin office. Pol dispatches a team to Phoenix HQ, which succeeds in capturing the neo-Nazis, though they find no report of a woman among the captives. The operation demonstrates the network's vulnerability yet leaves questions about Inge unanswered.

Quiller returns to Inge's school and confronts her in the classroom. She claims they released her and there was no emergency signal from the phone. Quiller suspects not all neo-Nazis were captured, and he vows to drive Inge to admitting nothing; as he leaves, the headmistress—revealed as Phoenix's contact—appears.