El vals de los besos

This catalog note describes the opening of Lou Carrigan's spy thriller "El vals de los besos" (The Waltz of Kisses), published in 1979. The narrative follows CIA agents Brigitte Montfort ("Baby"), an audacious female operative, and her partner Clark Coleman ("Número Uno"), considered the finest male spy of their era. Upon landing at Orly Airport in Paris, they are intercepted by a CIA contact bearing red roses—a signal that a fellow agent, codenamed Simón, has been murdered in Hamburg. Diverted to Hamburg, they learn the circumstances: Simón was killed with Pavel Savelich's pistol during a complex espionage incident involving NATO's Teawork 76 military exercises. A defecting American colonel, Aaron Ringleman, attempted to sell NATO tactical secrets to Soviet intelligence. Though Savelich was killed and the sale prevented, Ringleman escaped. The investigation centers on locating Ringleman, whose knowledge of the exercises and Soviet contact makes him a significant security threat.