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Undercover Operation Gone Awry
I
The powerful head of the city building department stared at the e-mail message displayed on his flat-screen monitor. As usual, he was in his office more than an hour before any of his staff, checking voice mail and e-mail.
Better print a copy and delete this one, he thought. I wonder where else this message sits that I can't get to? He waited for the sheet of paper to emerge from the printer next to his keyboard, then with several clicks of the mouse he deleted the message from his inbox and also from the building department's main server.
Swiveling around in his chair, he placed the printout on his desk and slowly read it again:
From: Jennifer Patrick [jennipat@myserv.net]
Sent: Monday, August 2, 2004 11:56 p.m.
To: John.Thompson@building.city.gov
Subject: Hi!
Dad,
Trouble. The DA's office has been interviewing several people (I don't know who) that do business with your department. They are preparing a case to take to the Grand Jury.
They have also brought in an outside investigator for some sort of undercover operation. I don't know any of the details, only that the whole thing is being referred to around the office here as 'Operation Mason.'
Be careful, and take care of yourself!
JP
Despite the seriousness of the message, John Thompson smiled. Smart girl, he thought. Nobody would pay attention to that subject heading. Then he frowned. Ms. Jennifer Patrick ("JP") was not his real daughter. She had been married at one time to his oldest son. He was still closer to Jennifer than he was to his own daughters. They understood each other without being judgmental.
Operation Mason, Operation Mason . . . , he repeated to himself as he turned back to the computer on the table behind his large, cluttered desk. After a few mouse clicks he was scrolling through the appointments in his electronic calendar. Nothing stood out on today's schedule. He moved to Wednesday. Whoa! he breathed. There it was. For Wednesday, 4 August, at 8:00 a.m. First thing tomorrow morning. An appointment with Julia A. Mason from ABC Developers, Inc. He had been head of the city building department for twenty-seven years, and he had never heard of Julia A. Mason or ABC. Julia Mason—Operation Mason . . .
He turned back to his desk and picked up the handset on one of the telephones. His chief of staff was not in her office yet. 7:10 a.m., he noted on the wall clock mounted over his office door as he waited for her voice mail to kick in. Twenty-five hours to prepare for Ms. Mason.
He spoke to the automated recording device after the beep: "Mrs. Chew, when you get in, drop everything and come straight in to my office. Wait. First, call Doc and get him over here right away. We've got a problem." Suddenly he worried that he should not have used the telephone in case his lines were being tapped. But then he decided that, even if someone were listening or recording his calls, there was nothing in this one to cause anyone to conclude that the secret of Operation Mason had leaked out.
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