I’ve had a lot of practice acting casual in my business, although I suppose that’s what’s to be expected after a year in the field.
As if I were only coming for pleasure, I strode into the coffee shop on the corner of Thirteenth Avenue and Twenty-Fifth street. As casual as can be, I ordered a short latte with a sugar despite not needing the caffine. I had to blend in, and not ordering would make me stand out.
I noticed that it was the littlest things that could give you away whilst looking for the target. A simple glance the wrong way, or an overly formal look about you could set something off.
But not this time.
It wasn’t long after I’d sat down that O’hara showed up. I knew his name because I had worked with him in the past, solving a murder case. Although a murder case was the last thing that we needed to think about.
He sat down across from me at the small table.
“Hello, Richard.” I said, knowing that Richard wasn’t even his real name. His actual name was unknown to everybody in the department.
“Hello, I can’t stay long, but I have some interesting news to share. Last night I was reading in the paper that Mellissa Greener had won a grammy award for her album called “Leaky Faucets.”
After O’hara left, I quickly jotted down this information. I knew for a fact that this had to be code for multiple reasons. First being that the grammy awards were not to take place for several more months, yet. Next, being that Melissa Greener had to be a fake name; never in all of my life have I ever heard such a name.
Once I arrived back at the headquarters I sat down with Leonard Rand, the code expert of the district.
“Hello, Ken. Need some help?”
“Yes, O’hara has dropped off a code, and I needed your help to figure it out. I’ve already tried using my decoder and some of the other tricks, but it’s not working.”
I handed him the paper in which I’d written down the code. Rand looked at it for a short time, before giving it back.
“It’s not an actual code, it seems. Melissa Peikoff is the owner of the Greener, which is a diner downtown, only a few block west from here in fact.”
“What about the award?” I asked.
“Well,” Rand sighed, “I think I have something that will help with that.” He reached for the inside of his desk, and withdrew a local newspaper. “It looks like the Greenery is receiving an award for the best eatery in town, and Peikoff is hosting a party there this Friday to celebrate.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “There must be more than that.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because there must be some sort of hint about what I need to keep an eye out for at this party.”
“Well, there’s still the part about ‘leaky faucets,’ although it may have been put there to make it fit into the code. But keep in mind that it may mean something, so keep an eye out for anything suspicious that fits with the term.”
“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”
It was a few nights later when I arrived at the party, all seemed particularly normal.
Although tonight I was a different person; I was no longer Kenneth Bagwell but now I was Alex Perry. And of course tonight, I wasn’t an agent, but I was an investor who put bought a few stocks for the eatery. I was there celebrating my success in the thriving business and revenue that I earned from it.
