FROM US CONSULATE GENERAL RABAT MOROCCO FOR G2 WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON DC COPY TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON DC 6:50 PM DECEMBER 6 1941
PASHA OF KSAR ES SOUK ASSASSINATED 2:30 PM 6 DEC BY UNKNOWN PARTIES STOP SIDI EL FERRUCH BELIEVED ALIVE STOP J. ROBERT BERRY MAJOR
Donovan read it, shook his head, and handed it to Douglass.
"Who the hell is the pasha of Ksar es Souk?" Donovan asked tiredly. "And why is it classified secret? The pasha knows he’s dead, and so do the people who shot him.’’ He gave Baker a look of impatience. ‘‘I have no idea what any of this is all about.’’
‘‘I have been working under certain constrictions,’’ Baker said. ‘‘Starting with Captain Douglass’s inability to tell me why we are interested in Louis Albert Grunier.’’
‘‘Who the hell is he?’’ Donovan asked.
‘‘He’s a mining engineer,’’ Douglass furnished, ‘‘who worked in the Union Minière mines in Katanga Province of the Belgian Congo before the war.’’
‘‘OK,’’ Donovan said. Now he had an idea what was going on. ‘‘You’ve found him?’’
‘‘When the war started, he tried to return to France,’’ Baker said, ‘‘and got as far as Casablanca. He was not permitted to return to France. The French need engineers in the Atlas Mountain phosphate mines. Phosphates, of course, are essential to the manufacture of various kinds of explosives and gunpowder.’’
‘‘Good work,’’ Donovan said.
‘‘I have also found out that it is unlikely he would willingly help us,’’ Baker said. ‘‘Not only does he still hope to return to his family in France, but there is the additional possibility of reprisals against them if he does not walk the straight and narrow. With that in mind, I have gone into the area of bringing him here involuntarily.’’
He had captured Donovan’s attention.
‘‘And?’’ Donovan asked.
‘‘Captain Douglass made it quite clear that there is an extraordinary requirement for secrecy in this matter,’’ Baker said. ‘‘Inasmuch as I don’t know the reason f
or that, this makes matters difficult.’’
‘‘Baker, you just don’t have the need to know,’’ Donovan said.
Baker nodded.
‘‘How do you propose to get Grunier out of Morocco without the help of the consul general?’’ Donovan asked. ‘‘I really hate to use him, or any of those control officers, but if necessary . . .’’
‘‘There is a way, I think, to do this without Robert Murphy. He’d have to be told, of course, but neither he nor the control officers would be directly involved.’’
‘‘Let’s hear it,’’ Donovan said.
‘‘I’ve discussed it with Captain Douglass, who I’m afraid thinks I have let my imagination run away with me.’’
‘‘Let’s hear it,’’ Donovan repeated impatiently.
‘‘There is an interesting young American in Morocco, a fellow named Eric Fulmar,’’ Baker said.
‘‘Some friends of mine, as it happens, are friends of young Mr. Fulmar,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘What’s he doing now?’’
‘‘Making a good deal of money as a smuggler.’’
‘‘From what I know of him, that’s not surprising. Is he working with the locals?’’
‘‘With the son of the late pasha of Ksar es Souk,’’ Baker said. ‘‘He and the son, known as Sidi el Ferruch, were in school in Germany together—Fulmar’s father is German, as you may know. El Ferruch runs a very efficient intelligence operation for the pasha of Marrakech.’’
‘‘Your idea is to have Eric Fulmar smuggle Grunier out of the country.’’
‘‘Yes, sir,’’ Baker said. ‘‘He and the Moroccan.’’
‘‘You think they would?’’