A Spy Story – Part II
Part II
The factory executives examined their carefully curated List of Factory Scruples. “All right,” wept Secretary Kinder. “This is hopeless. I’m feeling ill, got a terrible headache. I’m going home.”
“Maybe not all that hopeless,” said the treasurer, looking closely at the spreadsheet. “Excuse me,” volunteered the new office historian. “Perhaps we can recap the plan to get everyone caught up to speed?”
A.C. Walker sighed deeply. He turned from the open window he had been facing. “We’re trying to catch the spy in the room. We established that every worker in the factory must either be a scruple or an unscruple.”
“Certain workers can’t be the spy,” Assistant Chief Walker supplemented. “For instance, Peter Waters and Polly Basanti. The Belugavich family also. They don’t 
work in areas where spying would be necessary and moreover are extremely trustworthy.”
“So, we created an email list and put everyone on it,” the assistant secretary picked up again. “Unfortunately, as the list was public, every worker in the factory subscribed to the listserv, and we’re back to square one.”
The treasurer flipped her laptop to face the group. “Maybe not square one?”
Back in the worker’s lounge, Peter Waters and the rest of the staff were gathering their coats to go home. “What actually is a scruple?” Marie Belugavich asked no one in particular. Unbeknownst to her, the treasurer replied in the executive office. “Scruples are the honest workers.” She pointed to a section of the spreadsheet highlighted in yellow. “These are workers who are not the spy and who know nothing about who that could be.”
She gestured at the second, much larger block of names. “These names were added to the listserv starting at noon. We didn’t add them- they added themselves. They’re our unscruples.”
The room was silent as every executive team member thought hard.
The A.C. Walker stood up. “We eliminate workers one by one from the second list. Pose questions, set up ‘opportunities’ for them to out themselves. We knock them off the unscruple list one by one- until we find the spy or think of a better plan.”
The undercover operation began the next day. Workers were summoned to the treasury under the pretext of various typical tasks.
“Hilda, would you fix the printer, please?” the treasurer would ask. While the printer was being repaired, a choice phrase would be dropped. “…GUH is going to fall by 8 points on Friday!…” The spy’s intercepted radio channel would be monitored for the phrase to surface, and when it didn’t, the worker would be exonerated from the list of unscrupulous potential spies.
On and on it went. Several times the A.C. resorted to smashing objects deliberately and calling for them to be replaced. “Absolutely shattered.. Carl, could you set up a new desk light from the storage unit, please?”
The list of possible spies grew smaller.
Another week had passed before the new historian dropped her
headphones and rushed to the center of the executive suite shouting. “I hear it! I heard our coded message on the radio!”
The team gathered around her as she played the decoded message aloud. “…the factory will be closed during the last two weeks of the year…the factory will be closed during the last two weeks of the year…” It was the false message they’d fed to a worker called in to refill the water tank.
“So that’s the spy!” said Secretary Kinder in awe. “How did we catch the spy?” “George Perspic…” mused the assistant secretary. “I don’t believe it.”
“We won’t arrest him just yet.” Startled, everyone turned to A.C. Walker, who was perusing the original spreadsheet.
“He’s right,” the treasurer agreed. “We have a series of names that are still on this spreadsheet. George may have told someone what he heard- he is an unscruple, but he may not be our spy.”
“We do the job right,” Walker insisted. “And this gives us a chance to find other unscruples.”
Time proved the A.C. right. It was two days later when the team gathered again. The treasurer connected her laptop to the main screen where not one, but five names were listed. “Five unscruples,” said the undersecretary. “And now to find which of these fellows is actually the spy transmitting the information.”
That evening, Walker and the treasurer left the factory for the office garage. The long line waiting for the elevator from the top-floor executive suite had pushed them to take the stairs. “What a day, Treasurer…” said the Assistant Chief, pressing a hand to his forehead. “I’ll be grateful when this mess is over..” “Quiet!” whispered the treasurer. “Did you hear that?” They had stopped in the stairwell by the 9th floor. There was a gentle murmur of conversation and a regular beep! every 5 seconds. They pressed their ears to the door.
Secretary Kinder’s voice came across, stern. “Hurry up, I don’t want to be seen heading out too late. Anything else to transmit to the GKB?”
It was an hour later. Kinder and his goons had been carted off to the Intelligence Agency, and the executives gathered, exhausted.
Chief Parker strode into the room, smiling. “Evening! Walking right into a celebration, am I?” She looked around as everyone in the room burst into deranged laugher. “What did I miss?” 🔍
