Operation: Festive Chic

Agent: M

In order not to compromise her current secret identity, it was necessary for Agent H to attend some festive doings at the college she is presumed to attend.  She and I arrived on campus almost exactly at 7:00 pm, although there was some scuffle surrounding the exact calibration of her clock.  We knew it was imperative that we be Fashionably Late, so we held a short stakeout in the car.  There were no incidents.

Campus was deserted and most mysterious.  I must report that i found it very maze-like, but Agent H has been there before so she found it slightly less so.  But only slightly.  The location of the soirée was rather obscure and it took considerable investigation to find it.  When we finally arrived, we immediately proceeded to put Agent H’s codename on the appropriate List.  Mission Accomplished.

The next order of business was to find a way to get our own red tickets into the shiny boxes that were in the possession of the GBM (Girls in Black Minidresses.)  Although slightly hectic, this too was accomplished rather easily.  We proceeded to eat a great deal of cheese and feign animated conversation while we surveyed the other guests.

We were soon ushered into the theater, where we chose seats most strategic for escaping quickly.  We collected sufficient blackmail material before intermission.

When Agent H vanished for a few moments and i was lingering by the cheese table, concerned about the quickly depleting stack of plates, I was approached by one of the GBM.  She stealthily slipped me a secret message.  H rejoined me near the other cheese table, and i shared the message with her.  She successfully avoided any interaction with the GBM or fellow graduates from her last posting.

When the secret signal came, we returned to the theater and i approached the stage, as the secret message had instructed me to do.  I knew it was a trap, but i knew something the GBM didn’t know…

The GBM paraded me across the stage, along with several other ladies, in what they called a “fashion show.”  Even some of their own were participants, in order to make it seem more authentic.  I immediately recognized the event as a thinly veiled attempt to get a better look at the spy they knew was among them.  It was really a rather brilliant idea: Ribbon Detectives are always fashionable and really quite often both chic and festive.  What better way to out a secret agent then to summon all of the most stylish people to the stage, where the “audience” can examine each specimen and cheer randomly in order to select a “winner” while the GBM authorities are using their shrewd sensibilities to determine which one is a Ribbon Detective?

I did not win the “contest,” but i wasn’t convinced that meant they didn’t suspect me.  But it didn’t matter much…because it was actually Agent H they were looking for, and she was sitting quite unnoticed in a dark row in the back of the theater the entire time.

Still, we knew it was time for us to leave.  However, Ribbon Detectives like presents, so we stuck around for the drawings.  Naturally the GBM had rigged them all, so we left empty handed… but with our covers in tact.

End of Report.