L3

L3

That last bit got Ramsey's attention. "Are you quite sure?"

"I've checked it for years, sir, in every season, and the match occurs more  than eighty percent  of the time, well  outside the realm of  coincidence. I  intend to publish  a paper  about this after the war."

"Remarkable! And what do you forecast for Undercliff?"

"A twenty-four hour  break  in this  miserable weather,  partly cloudy, winds drop  to five knots. Then on the  afternoon of the sixth of  June we  return to the  same pattern.  Everywhere else along the English  Channel there will be fog and  rain and winds gusting to thirty knots."

Admiral Sir Ramsay was elated. Eisenhower's chief meteorologist had predicted the same  short break in  the weather  using B-17 aircraft far out over the Atlantic to gather  the data. General Montgomery was willing to take the risk, but Ramsay and Ike were still cautious.

Allied Intelligence said  General Erwin  Rommel, master  of the Atlantic Wall, wasn't  even  presently in  France,  a sign  the Germans were anticipating at least  a week of bad  weather. But now a doughnut hole in that weather was confirmed  by a second, entirely unexpected source. Sir Ramsay had moved over to General Montgomery's camp and was ready to give the nod on the invasion. It might be enough to convince Eisenhow- er, the Supreme Allied Commander, to launch the massive invasion of France just as the Germans were letting down their guard.

The Admiral asked,  "Does  the strange  correlation of  weather between   Undercliff  and   the  French   coast  hold   for  the Pas-De-Calais?"

"Alas, no, I'm afraid that predicting the weather for Dover and Calais is a puzzle, and my reports to the Weather Office are but one piece."

The Admiral sighed, reluctant to  proceed. There was one final duty Benjamin Margolies could perform for  England. It saddened the Admiral to deceive  the man,  but there  was no  choice. He said, "Then it is time to  reveal the real purpose  of my visit here, and why I have attended  to this myself rather than send a staffer. What  I'm about  to tell you  has the  highest possible classification. You cannot mention this even to your family."

"I understand, sir."