The Double Agents (Men at War 6)

“Not quite,” Wild Bill Donovan said, laughing. “Only a common general. But I thank you for the promotion.”

Canidy was smiling. He put out his hand.

“Very good to see you, General. And congratulations.”

“That was nice work, gentlemen,” Donovan said. “Even Ike and the boys at AFHQ are impressed.”

Donovan looked at Canidy. “You’ve been busy, too, Dick. Why don’t you fill me in.”

“Of course. I—”

Donovan, looking at Canidy’s drink, interrupted: “Why don’t you first pour me a little of whatever evil spirit that might be. I suspect, with your history, I’m going to need a taste.”

“…And that was the story that the Mafia guys were getting out of the SS office in Palermo,” Canidy said. “That Müller was scared and going to use the Tabun without authorization. The Germans had sent it to Palermo, without his knowledge, to be staged as insurance. Not as an offensive weapon. Of course, that can be all wrong….”

Donovan was quiet a moment, sipping his scotch.

“Thankfully,” he then said, “it would appear that you are right. We had corroborating evidence.”

“Confirmed?” Canidy said. “By who?”

“Hans Bernd Gisevius,” he said. “But ultimately Canaris.”

“Admiral Canaris in the Abwehr?”

He nodded. “We doubled Gisevius. He’s a leader of the German underground who Allen Dulles uses as his pipeline to Canaris. And Canaris also is tight with Fritz Thyssen.”

Canidy knew Dulles was the OSS station chief in Switzerland. The Thyssen name was unfamiliar to Canidy and his face showed he didn’t recognize the name.

“The Ruhr Valley industrialist. Who in the early days funneled a helluva lot of money into Hitler’s pockets. Then he finally saw the writing on the wall, packed up the kids and grandkids, and fled for Switzerland in 1939. He’s still a player in the Ruhr Valley, and tightly connected with Wolfgang Kappler.”

“Why is that name familiar?” Canidy wondered.

“Kappler Industrie GmbH,” Stevens furnished, “chief provider of coke, steel, and other materials to Mann and Daimler-Benz.”

“Engines,” Canidy said.

“Engines,” Stevens confirmed.

“And there is an SS Obersturmbannführer in the Messina office named Oskar Kappler,” Donovan went on. “And Thyssen has both been seen in the company of Wolffy Kappler and sniffing around industrial sites and the docks in Buenos Aires.”

It took Canidy a moment to put those pieces together in his mind.

“So the real reason they don’t want to use the gas,” Canidy ventured, “the reason they don’t want the war to become any worse than it has, is because they are making plans to get the hell out of Dodge.”

“There are some who would agree with you, Dick,” Wild Bill Donovan said. “I happen to be one of them.”

“Then the war is—?”

“Unfortunately, long from over,” Donovan said. “And we have a lot of work yet to do until it is.”

[FIVE]

Westminster Tower Park Lane at Aldford Street London, England 2020 14 May 1943

“No more jokes about my memory—the doctors said that’s mostly over and done,” Ann Chambers said playfully, one hand under the bedsheets, searching. “I’ve got a clean bill of health…and I’m beginning to remember why you drive me crazy.”

Her hand found what it was looking for, wrapped around the prize…and gently but pointedly squeezed.