part0012

“ W ell done, chaps,” said Johnny. The team was sitting under the shade of a colourful umbrella at their favourite café which served their least favourite coffee. It was late morning and another sultry day in Cairo with the characteristic discordant sounds and the mixture of sweet and rancid smells and, as always, the incessant flies.

“We’ll certainly have to do something about our floating houseboat friends,” he continued. “I think the bottom of the River Nile would be the best resting place for that transceiver. Are you sure it was a Hallicrafter, Jacko?”

“Pretty sure, boss. Looked just like your radio.”

“Okay then, we’ll work out a plan of attack to surprise them. Rather than just sinking the houseboat, I would prefer to quietly take the agents into the custody of our military police and jettison their arms and equipment to avoid involving the local Egyptian authorities. It may not be possible but we can work out a plan to that end. What about the other fellow, Henry or Heinrich?”

“Fifi should be joining us around noon so we’ll hear more about that from her,” replied Jamie. Then he changed the subject, saying, “Perhaps we could order some tea today to see how that is. The coffee’s so strong and thick it won’t even slide down my throat.”

“The tea can be even thicker if you add six or seven spoonfuls of sugar to each cup, as some of the locals do,” observed Johnny. He waved at a waiter and ordered a large pot of tea and five cups and then turned to Matt.

“I have some good news,” he said. “Your comrades in the 9th Division are still keeping Rommel at bay at Tobruk. It’s an amazing and important achievement.”

“Yeah, that’s great. I only wish I was there to fight with them. Damn my injuries,” responded Matt, touching the scars on his cheek.

“So was Farida able to tell you anything before she left you and disappeared in a puff of smoke?” Johnny asked.

“Nothing much,” replied Matt. “We’d just started talking when she excused herself.”

“That’s a hell of a thing,” said Johnny, shaking his head. “I’ve got some contacts in the local constabulary. I should be able to find out some details of the murder and how far they’ve got with their investigation. I just don’t understand it. Even if some enemy agents had found out that Farida was willing to work with us, that’s not their usual style. They would use that information to try to find out more about us. It’s also most unlikely that the enemy would know anything about us at this stage. We’re too new to have made any waves in the seedy world of Cairo spies and conspirators. Of course, it could well be an opportunistic crime and the poor girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, that could be the best explanation.”

Just then the waiter came over and placed a large teapot in the middle of their table. As he went back inside to bring the cups, they noticed the familiar figure of Fifi strolling across the square towards them.

“Ah, mes amis,” she said. “Now you have one more handsome young man with you. I feel very fortunate and popular to have four such good-looking gentlemen all to myself.” Looking at Johnny, she said, “Je suis Fifi.”

The men had all stood up and Jamie said, “Fifi, this is our fearless leader, Johnny. He has been anxious to meet you.”

“Enchantée, Johnny. May I sit down?”

There was a scramble as everyone came to life and she was offered two chairs before she elegantly settled into one. Jamie noted that she looked as fresh as if she had slept a full night and appeared totally at ease in their company.

Observing Johnny attentively, she said, “So you’re the Englishman amongst all these fellows from down-under Australia? I have heard all about you.”

“Not too much, I hope,” replied Johnny. “I have heard quite a few good things about you and, now that we’ve met, I’m prepared to believe them.”

“You are much too kind, sir,” she said with a laugh, “and, non, non, non, your colleagues have not told me too much about you. They are très discrets, n’est-ce pas?”

“Well, Fifi, if you would like me to pour you some of this tea which, I’m assured, is better than the coffee here, we would all be very interested to hear how your evening went with the pseudo-American gentleman.”

Accepting a cup of hot tea and declining milk or sugar, she looked around and then spoke to them in a low voice. “It was an unexpectedly pleasant evening. We went to dinner at Shepheard’s. Most of the diners were British staff officers, many eating and drinking to excess. There were other nationalities there including some inebriated Czechs. I was very happy because it turned out my escort was not a heavy drinker and we just shared a delicious bottle of Bordeaux wine with dinner. He told me that he was born near a black forest and his father was a heavy drinker and often beat him and his mother when he was young, so he was not so interested in drinking too much. I asked him if his parents still lived in America. He was a bit startled by that question but then said that only his mother was still alive in Texas. I think that he has pretended to be an American only for a short while and he lets the façade and the accent slip sometimes. When I asked him what was his business in Cairo he said that he was representing an American company selling aircraft parts and equipment to the Royal Air Force. The rest of the time over dinner was spent in small talk, as you say, and we just enjoyed the delights of mainly French cooking.

“We then moved on to the Casino Opera. Some of the other diners from Shepheard’s also headed there. I saw you were already there and made sure that we were seated on the other side of the stage, as I didn’t want to be distracted by too many handsome men like yourselves so that I could concentrate on Henry. Henry had not been there before and I think he was very impressed with the beautiful, athlétique and élégante Badia troupe. He said he did not know there was so much beauty in the world. Even though he told me he doesn’t drink much, I encouraged him and he became quite talkative. I saw you talking to Madame Badia. She is always attentive to her customers. After you left, Henry and I walked for a while along the riverside and he became quite romantic. He then walked me to my home and asked if he could invite me out again the following evening. He was very formal and I was quite surprised. He told me he had to work early in the morning and had to report to his boss, Mr Roomble or some name like that.”

“The name wouldn’t have been Rommel, would it?” Johnny asked.

“Yes, that could have been it. He told me that he was very attracted to me, kissed my hand and left. He was quite the proper gentleman. So I didn’t get into any of the etcetera, etcetera, as my friend Jamie described it yesterday. Don’t blush so much, Jamie.”

Jamie decided not to say anything, as he believed he might stutter. This girl was so alluring it made him shy and charmed at the same time. He would have to watch himself. Just then, Jacko stood up and, after excusing himself, set off quickly across the square. Bewildered by his sudden departure, the others watched him disappear into one of the narrow side streets leading from the square. Johnny was the first to say something.

“Does he often do that, Jamie?”

“Okay, we won’t worry about him for now,” Johnny continued. “I just wanted to say, Fifi, that you have done a perfect job for us so far and we now know that Henry probably reports directly to Rommel. The next step will be to find out where his main sources of intelligence come from. He must have an unsuspecting friend or two close to the General Staff and it will be our main job to find out where the loose lips are. We would like you to continue to be responsive to Henry, Fifi. In time, it is probable that he will start to regard you as his confidante and be satisfied that there is no risk in introducing you socially to individual contacts of his. We would like to find out who he meets and who his friends are. Do you think you can do that?”

“What you ask me to do is not a problem at all,” Fifi replied with a smile. “I think that running around with Henry in such a social whirl will be quite entertaining.”

“Good girl,” said Johnny. “If we can find out his main sources of intelligence and neutralise them there will be a bonus in it for you.”

Fifi laughed. “Well, I can always do with an extra British pound or two. Ah, mon Dieu! What do we have here?”

She was looking across the other side of the square and the others followed her gaze. Walking out from a different side street to the one he had previously entered was Jacko, his arm around the waist of a young girl with downcast eyes. She was quite pretty but, Jamie thought, she could not be more than 18 or 19 years old. He thought there was something familiar about her but couldn’t place her. As they approached, he could see that Jacko was not forcing her and although she seemed reluctant she was content to walk without protest beside him.

“G’day, folks,” Jacko greeted them cheerfully. “I would like you to meet Sheena who has just become my good friend. Sheena, this young lady is Fifi and these gentlemen, who will definitely not bite you, are Johnny, Jamie and Matt. We need another chair. Sheena would like to join us for a cup of tea.”

After some jumping around and rearrangement of chairs and tables, everyone settled down with Sheena sitting next to Fifi. Jacko poured tea for Sheena, who sipped it while she nervously appraised the group who were all staring at her.

“Sheena is a trainee dancer for the Badia troupe at the Casino Opera. She was dancing when we first arrived at the music hall last evening.”

Jamie remembered her now as one of the two young dancers at the beginning of the show.

“When we asked Madam Badia last night about Farida, she concluded we might know more about the murder than we had let on. So she asked this little girl to follow us around Cairo to see if we found out anything about poor Farida. I think I have convinced my little friend here that we are just as concerned about this terrible crime as she and Badia are.”

Sheena spoke in a low voice. “I didn’t mean any harm.”

Her eyes were full of tears and she started to sob. Fifi put her arm around the miserable young girl and whispered in her ear. After a short while the young girl nodded and even managed a slight smile.

Fifi said, “I have convinced our young friend that none of you are upset with her for following you, and that you will talk to Madam Badia at the first opportunity to inform her that you are doing everything you can to help solve the mystery of this terrible murder.”

“Thank you, Fifi,” said Johnny. “I don’t know what we would do without you. I shall certainly be talking to the top officials in the police force here to find out what they have come up with. I believe a number of British officers from the Palestine police have been seconded to the Cairo constabulary and I intend to seek them out tomorrow. It has been nice to meet you, Sheena, and please tell Madame that we are on her side and will try to help as much as we can.”

Fifi again whispered in the ear of the girl, who nodded and stood up. After a number of “au revoirs” she walked away across the square and disappeared into one of the side streets.

Jacko said, “I felt last night that we were being followed and I was more alert to the possibility of it today. I just happened to see a movement over there,” he said, pointing to a street on the other side of the square, “so I worked my way around to come from behind and there she was.”

“Voilà! Elle est apparue,” said Fifi.

“Exactly, or exactement as you would say,” said Jacko, laughing.

“Okay, troops,” said Johnny, “we’ll set up a plan to tackle our houseboat agents tonight. There are a few Scottish military police here so I might involve them to take the agents as prisoners. We’ll see if we can find out anything about the murder of Farida tomorrow, particularly if there are any other enemy agents involved. Fifi, you can concentrate on your prospective ‘amant’ and let us know if you meet some interesting contacts. N’est-ce pas?”

“See, you again throw poor Fifi to the wolf,” she said. “If he eats me I hope you will cry forever. Bien, I’ll be leaving. Au revoir, mes amis.”

After several goodbyes and waves they watched her leave, hips swinging in that alluring way. Then they settled down to plan the rest of the day. Johnny would talk to the chief officer of the Scottish military police and they would all meet back at their pension in three hours’ time to prepare for the evening’s action.