Characters > Fictional
I know what you are words every spy dreads. It means your cover has been blown.
But these are the first words that Katherine MacNutt says to the Count just after he has deposited in an Ottawa mailbox his reports written in invisible ink. Then she hands him a white feather, a symbol of cowardice, before vanishing down the street. White feathers were used to encourage men to volunteer for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).
When Berlin ordered Count Jaggi to New York, he received an invitation from the Belgian Relief Committee of the Women’s Canadian Club of Ottawa. Since he was landing in Halifax, he decided, before going on to New York City, to take advantage of the opportunity to get first hand intelligence of Ottawa’s war effort.
He soon discovers that the woman who handed him the feather is Katherine MacNutt, the wife of Inspector Andrew MacNutt, the head of the Dominion Police’s Secret Service. This is an opportunity too good to pass up. He decides to get as close to her as he can. Through Katherine he can get to her husband. It may prove useful as he takes over Captain Franz von Papen’s operations in New York.
His job is made easier since he finds Katherine quite attractive. He senses that Katherine might be open to his romantic overtures.
Biography
Jaggi was born in Munich, Bavaria, on August 17, 1875. He was an only child and was orphaned when he was sixteen. His parents died when the boat they were sailing while on holidays sank. He attended the military academy in Munich and graduated 1895 in the top percentile of his class. He entered the Bavarian army as an officer cadet. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1900, 1st lieutenant in 1904, and promoted to captain in 1910.
After being found in bed with his colonel’s wife, the young captain was “volunteered” for Abteilung 111B, the German Army’s Intelligence Unit. When the war started, he was assigned to England to keep an eye on the British Belgian Relief efforts under the cover of a Belgian Count. The German Army feared that the British would try to slip spies through the charity to spy on German activities in Europe.
Pleased with the Count’s work, in October 1915 Berlin reassigns him to the United States to replace Captain von Papen. Von Papen’s espionage activities have caught the attention of the American authorities and they are in the process of declaring him persona non grata. The Count is to take charge and continue von Papen’s activities to disrupt Allied War efforts that flow through the New York harbour.