The Cairo Code by Glenn Meade

fact.”
    â€œAnd the other?”
    â€œAn Arab named Hassan Sabry. Code name Phoenix. We had him working for Rommel’s people, until we moved him to Cairo. Though his real interest is banishing the British from Egypt. However, while both men have the cunning of sewer rats, they’re rather limited when it comes to the bigger picture.”
    â€œWhy are you telling me all this?”
    Schellenberg stubbed out his cigarette, quickly lit another. “I need your help. I have a job in mind that requires the assistance of a couple of your people, to work alongside Deacon and Sabry.”
    â€œWhatever for?”
    Schellenberg looked deathly serious. “Because, my dear Wilhelm, together we’re going to kill President Roosevelt.”
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    The room was so quiet that Canaris could hear the clock ticking. He was caught off guard, and when he had recovered said, “Have you lost your mind? What you’re suggesting is preposterous.”
    â€œDaring was the word I would have used. And you forget, only six weeks ago Colonel Otto Skorzeny’s SS paratroops rescued Mussolini from a heavily fortified garrison. Before we undertook that mission all the indications pointed to failure—we assessed only a 10 percent chance of success—yet we pulled it off brilliantly. From touchdown to rescue took precisely four minutes, and with not one of our men lost in the action.”
    The bold liberation of Il Duce from imprisonment at the Hotel Campo Imperatore in Abruzzi in central Italy on 12 September was still being proudly sung about in the corridors of SD headquarters. It was certainly a dazzling triumph, but Canaris shook his head. “What you’re proposing is something else entirely. We both know that Roosevelt, like Churchill, has a steel wall of security around him day and night. Such a thing would be impossible.”
    â€œNothing is impossible, Wilhelm. And desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, it all depends on the planning.”
    Canaris said wearily, “And how exactly do you propose to assassinate the president of the United States?”
    â€œFirst, let me show you something.” Schellenberg handed across a slip of paper from the file on his desk. As Canaris started to read, he said, “It’s a rather important message from Deacon. I think you’ll agree he’s unearthed an interesting nugget.”
    Canaris continued to read the decoded signal and looked up, pale-faced. “Is this true?”
    Schellenberg smiled. “I thought you might be surprised. As you can see, it virtually confirms Roosevelt will be arriving in Cairo on the twenty-second of this month, eight days from now, before he proceeds to Teheran. There’s to be a private conference with Churchill and a senior Chinese delegation seeking more Allied support for the war in the Far East. But Himmler is convinced the real purpose of Roosevelt’s visit is to agree the timing of the invasion of Europe with Churchill. If the invasion goes ahead, it doesn’t bear thinking about—we’d be fighting on all fronts.”
    Canaris read the signal again, then held it up. “Can you be absolutely certain of this information?”
    â€œAll SD agents abroad were ordered to use whatever means necessary to gather intelligence about the Teheran and Cairo meetings, just as your own people were. One of our American agents spotted the battleship Iowa departing Chesapeake Bay two days ago, after taking on a cargo of civilian passengers. Nothing remarkable about that, you might say, but we suspected a ship of the Iowa ’s class might be used to transport Roosevelt to North Africa. It was only a suspicion, of course, and we needed more information. Fortunately for us, Deacon came up trumps. He managed to get photographs of a top-secret memo which was kept in the American ambassador’s private safe at his Cairo residence, confirming the