M. Forsythe - While Rome Was Sleeping

“Wellman nodded, “Okay, but in the meantime I’m going back to my office and the real world. I used to think it was weird over there,” Fred smiled referring to CIA at Langley. “Call me when the code book arrives.”

“I don’t think it should be too long,” Neil cautioned. “Stay loose and think of everything you can remember about Little Red Riding Hood.”

“I’ll do that,” Fred assured him as he reached for his jacket and opened the door. Looking back at Neil he stopped, half smiling he shook his head as he left the code room.

Several hours later Nancy entered Neil’s office with a tattered children’s book saying, “You will never know how hard it is to find a decent copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.”

Taking it out of her hand Neil gave a sigh of obvious relief. “I appreciate your effort, Nancy. Thank you, and for what its worth, this book will probably get harder to find as time goes on,” he said casually.

Neil picked up the phone. “Wellman, let’s get together and read Little Red Riding Hood. Nancy found a copy. I’ll meet you back here and we’ll see what we come up with.”

Fred and Neil along with the two computer techs settled into the office in the code room and began the strange task. Neil started reading the fairy tale aloud. Half way through he handed the book to Fred to complete while he made a few notes. Finally, Fred looked up as he closed the book on the last page he read and commented,

“Well, we’re finished reading.”

“Yes,” Neil answered, “Now for the hard work.”

“First let’s look at our characters and their activities. We have Mother who sends Little Red Riding Hood off to Grandma’s house with a basket of goodies.”

Wellman continued, “We have Big Bad Wolf and Grandma who we have already mentioned, and at the end there is the Hunter.”

One of the techs spoke up. “We should consider some possible symbols as well. For example, there are the woods or forest and Grandma’s house that the story says is under three big oak trees. If the guy was trying to tell us something, those items could be important.”

“Right!” the other tech was quickly entering data on his keyboard. “There are some other interesting items as well. Notice that Red trusts the wolf at first; the story says she doesn’t know how rotten he is. It also says that he (the wolf) walks along the path with her. Then later there’s the disguise he uses to trap her and Grandma.”

Fred Wellman was studying as they began to tear the story apart. Looking at Neil he said, “You knew Kelshaw; who do you believe he was talking about using this story? Is he Little Red Riding Hood? Who is Big Bad Wolf?”

“I don’t know yet,” offered Neil. “Let’s back up and look at the mission. Thayer and Kelshaw were tasked from Saigon to Laos to gather intelligence on Site 85, Phou Pha Thi. That was their cover. It had been arranged for Thayer to go on to meet Chernakov at a designated location and escort him to safety. Suppose Thayer is Little Red Riding Hood…”

“That would make Chernakov most likely Grandma,” Wellman added. “It might fit; look at the rest of the story. Mother could be HQ, the Agency or even higher,” he said with finality. “Now then, who is Big Bad Wolf and who is the Huntsman?”

Neil responded, “Let’s talk about the wolf’s characteristics; he had big teeth (the better to eat you); he had big ears (the better to hear you); big eyes (the better to see you) and he had big hands (the better to grab you).”

“And don’t forget,” interrupted the tech, “He walked along the path with Red.”

“Right,” Neil agreed. “So our BBW is powerful and knowledgeable and can do some serious harm; the big hands could mean that he has, or had, a large sphere of influence and,” he paused, “If he walked the path with LRRH it might mean he was there from the beginning and/or was someone that Red Riding Hood trusted.

“We know in the story that Grandma is old and sick; in other words Grandma is vulnerable. Chernakov would certainly be vulnerable and since he carried information from USSR and China to the United States, the three oak trees could be symbolic of the three powerful countries.

“The meeting place for Thayer and Chernakov could be Grandma’s house where they fell into the trap BBW set for them,” Neil ruminated.

Neil looked at the techs, “You guys keep going with the story. Fred, I think we’ve done enough here for today; what do you say we digest what we have and give it some more thought? In particular, we should examine the phrase BBW has left the forest. I have an idea.”

“I agree,” Fred replied. “I’m late for a meeting, so tomorrow morning early works for me.”

9:30 AM

When Charlene woke on Friday morning she knew she must call Olivia Coleman after her meeting with Brad the previous evening. She wanted to choose her words carefully knowing Brad had told Olivia of their disagreement. She picked up the telephone and placed the call.

“Hello, Livy, it’s Charlene. I had to let you know how well things have turned out. I had dinner with Brad last evening and he has agreed to help me get to the bottom of the mystery; he now believes that the letter that I received from Paul was indeed authentic. There’s so much to tell you. It has been such a nightmare with all this Kelshaw business—”

“Wait, Charlene, what letter from Paul are you talking about?” Olivia interrupted, “And did you say Kelshaw?”

Charlene stopped in stunned silence, “Yes, Olivia, I did say Kelshaw—and Brad didn’t tell you about the letter?” she asked quietly and then, “Did you know George Kelshaw, Olivia?” she asked cautiously.

“No, not personally, but his father lives not a quarter of a mile from us and I have just now finished reading the obituary of George Kelshaw, Jr. in the morning paper. What did you have to do with this man, Charlene? It said in the paper that he died in Seattle.”

“Yes, he did die in Seattle, Olivia. He was murdered.”

Olivia gasped, “Murdered?”

“Yes, Olivia, murdered, and what’s more, he tried to call me. I’m sorry I can’t say anymore right now—I’m very confused—did Brad know George Kelshaw?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia responded. “The obituary said that he had been in Vietnam at the embassy in Saigon. I would be very surprised if he didn’t know him; according to the dates given in the paper they were there at the same time and probably the same time as Paul too. I’ll ask him Charlene. You’ve got to tell me what this letter business is all about.”

“I promise I will, but I can’t right now. I have to go, Olivia. I need time to absorb all of this. Yes, do ask Brad. I’ll call soon.”

As soon as Olivia Coleman was disconnected from Charlene Thayer she turned to the obituary for George Kelshaw, Jr. in the Alexandria Journal before dialing the Olympic Hotel in Seattle. Rereading it more carefully —

George W. Kelshaw, Jr., died September 16 thin Seattle, Washington. He was born November 15, 1933 to Drs. Paula and George W. Kelshaw, Sr. in Laos, where his parents served as medical missionaries, returning to the United States in 1943 when George was ten years old.

After receiving his doctoral degree from Princeton University he joined Georgetown University’s Department of Government where he taught Linguistics in the School of Foreign Service.

In 1964 he was commissioned a Major in the United States Air Force and was assigned to the United States Embassy in Saigon. Later promoted to Lt. Colonel, he remained in Southeast Asia was captured and held as a Prisoner of War.

He is survived by his father, George Kelshaw, Sr. MD (ret) of Alexandria, Virginia and his sister Myra Kelshaw Klein and her husband Neil of McLean, Virginia.