Reading Between the Lines

“You are here as a courtesy only, Mr. Derian. The victim has been tentatively identified as Holly Doolittle, a citizen of your country. Please do not touch anything.” The Moscow police officer waited for a sign of assent before moving from the doorway.

Derian entered the room taking in the scene with a practiced glance. Behind him followed his assistant, Benson, lips sealed into a tight line.

A body lay atop the kitchen table, capturing Derian’s attention. “May my associate verify the identity?” A grunt came from the door, releasing the man toward the body.

“I believe you said there was a suicide note?” Another grunt, then a surge of Russian and a note appeared in a plastic bag. The note was short and Derian finished in time to see a nod come from his associate. “I’m afraid you are correct, this was Miss Doolittle. Let me know if we can be of assistance.”

Derian paused before leaving the apartment, “Oh, lieutenant, may I use the bathroom before we head across town in this traffic?” The undercover intelligence officer scowled, but knowing the area had already been thoroughly searched, nodded to the smaller man.

The door closed to the bathroom and soon came the sound of a toilet flushing followed by running water. Derian exited the bathroom and then the apartment without another word.


Benson and Derian closed the doors to their embassy car and it pulled away into the evening traffic. Derian held up a roll of microfilm and showed it to his partner. “How? Where?” gasped Benson.

“The note misspelled ‘newspsper’, Holly was a reporter, the only other word in the note that was ‘accidentally’ misspelled was ‘tiolet’. An old trick I taught her, the film was attached to the float by a string.”