Drety: I wanted to see you after I heard your team has a hundred percent success rate. That’s quite an achievement.

 

Pete: Thank you.

 

Drety: How long have you worked on this project.

 

Pete: Five years.

 

Drety: Five years! I need to know the details before I sign your promotion letter.

 

Pete: We found out a way to intercept all the subject’s emails and…

 

Drety: That’s hardly an achievement. There’re hundreds, if not thousands of people who do that every day for business, crime, curiosity or whatever reasons.

 

Pete: We do it a bit differently. We do not just intercept. We manipulate the communication in such a manner that I can state with confidence, sir, that we know more about the subject than anyone else in this world.

 

Drety: But not more than his sister, of course.

 

Pete: Much more than his sister. A lot more.

 

Drety: Please explain how that is possible.

 

Pete: We found a way to act like a good predator does. Lie in wait. Then pounce. And calmly devour your prey. I like watching animal documentaries a lot and…

 

Drety: Just stick to the topic.

 

Pete: It took a lot of time planning how to position my men at crucial places where they would capture and hold all emails going to the subject. The next…

 

Drety: Capture and hold? Won’t the intended recipient know through other means about that? And what about emails from the subject.

 

Pete: I was just about to talk about that.

 

Drety: Okay, continue.

 

Pete: We have established secret compartments right next to the servers where our computer quickly sorts the emails and sends those from certain pre-set names right on their way. As for the rest, my men read it immediately it pops up on screen. Emails the sender or sendee has even the slightest chance of knowing was sent, we quickly push them through. As is all spam, of course.

 

Drety: That’s quite ingenious. I especially like the spam part.

 

Pete: Thank you.

 

Drety: Go on.

 

Pete: We analyse the emails and decide whether we need to reply, taking the persona of our subject. We also liaise with John’s team so they can physically surveil the sender. We use that information to communicate, including so much details in our reply emails that nobody has ever suspected a thing. As a matter of fact we have been communicating with one person for four and a half years, receiving unbelievable intel in the process. About six months ago there was a case of a lady who…

 

Drety: Do you know why your team was formed?

 

Pete: Yes.

 

Drety: Why?

 

Pete: To help nail the bastard.

 

Drety: Good. Have you obtained any information or material that can help us do that?

 

Pete: Well, we do have information that can…

 

Drety: Do you have something we can use for immediate blackmail of the subject?

 

Pete: Not exactly. But we do have…

 

Drety: What do you mean by not exactly?

 

Pete: The best material we had, we needed some acquaintance of the subject to play along for it to become potent. But she was not inspired enough to assist any further.

 

Drety: So you offered some inducement.

 

Pete: Yes.

 

Drety: How much?

 

Pete: A hundred thousand.

 

Drety: And?

 

Pete: Still she wouldn’t budge.

 

Drety: So you increased it to two hundred thousand.

 

Pete: We did everything we could but…

 

Drety: Everyone can be made to do something they don’t want to do. You just need to identify the right button to push.

 

Pete: I know that, sir.

 

Drety: Good. Did you raise your offer to this lady to at least a million?

 

Pete: It’s not about the money. Am sorry, sir.

 

Drety: You better be.