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Across the Wall, Donovan came face to face with the eerie demimonde of international espionage. His main contact was a purported second-string Russian diplomat named Schischkin, whom U.S. intelligence believed to be the top Soviet spy in Europe. In cahoots with Schischkin were two women, who maintained that they were Abel's wife and daughter and now claimed East German citizenship. Suddenly the Reds began to play hard to get. Their ploy was obvious; they hoped to badger Donovan into a misstep that might imply U.S. recognition of East Germany. Donovan refused to play, and when he threatened to break off negotiations, the Russians finally yielded. Abel was flown to Berlin, and on a cold, clear February morning, the Red spy and Powers passed each other without a word in the middle of Berlin's Glienicker Bridge, which links the two sectors of the embattled city.
Strangers on a Bridge is both an eloquent brief for the American judicial system and a topnotch spy thriller. A former OSS officer, Donovan mentions in passing a number of the tricks of the trade. Best: one of Abel's subordinates announced his arrival in the U.S. by placing a white tack in a signboard in Manhattan's Central Park.