Who are the possessors of the code names?
THE CASE OF THE REINDEER SPIES
The ringing of the doorbell cut through the clacking of the keyboard in Thomas P. Stanwick’s small study.
The amateur logician arose from the history textbook he was editing and went to the door. Rufus, his
black Labrador, lifted his head sleepily from his paws.
“Mr. Stanwick?” A tall man in a brown suit flashed a badge. “I’m Special Agent Cooper of the FBI.
Inspector Walker of the Royston Police referred me to you. Do you mind if I come in?”
“Not at all.” Though surprised by the visit, Stanwick showed Cooper into the living room with quiet
geniality. It was not the first time that he had received unusual visitors through Walker’s
recommendations.
Cooper glanced curiously around at the crowded bookshelves, the wall maps, and the papers and dusty
chess sets piled on various side tables. Declining Stanwick’s offer of tea, he seated himself in an armchair
near the hearth. Stanwick sat down in an armchair across from his and relit his pipe.
“Matt Walker is a good friend of mine, Mr. Cooper,” he said, “and I’m always glad to help him or an
associate of his if I can. I presume that in this case I may be of some service to the government."
“Exactly, Mr. Stanwick,” replied Cooper. “I’ve come to you because this case has a tangled knot of facts,
and Walker says you can untangle such knots better than anyone else he knows. We are also aware, of
course, of your past services to the American and British governments.
“Briefly, the facts are these. As a result of the national effort to crack down on domestic spies, the Bureau
has uncovered a ring of five spies in Royston who have started selling defense industry secrets to the
Chinese consulate in New York. The five individuals have been identified, and we are intercepting their
messages.
“We believe they may be able to lead us to several similar rings in the Midwest, so we want to continue
monitoring their messages a while longer before we arrest them. Our problem is that they refer to each
other in code names, and we need to match the individuals to the code names before we can completely
understand the messages.”
Stanwick reached calmly for a pad of paper and a pencil. “What do you have so far?” he asked.
Cooper opened a notebook.
“The code names,” he said with a slight smile, “are those of well-known reindeer: Comet, Cupid, Dasher,
Dancer, and Donder. We are certain that these names correspond in some order to the members of the
group, all of whom live in Royston.
“Sal Abelardo is a civil engineer for Spacetech. His wife works for a publishing company and apparently is
ignorant of her husband’s spying. Peter Bircham works as a janitor for the same firm. He is single. John
Cantrell is a junior executive with Aeroco. He and his wife share a condo downtown with his sister. Tim
Delmarin, unmarried, is a communications expert with the same firm. The fifth member is Telly Ephesos,
a retired Foreign Service officer who spent twenty years in China. He is married and has no siblings.”
Stanwick puffed on his pipe and wrote quietly on the pad, while Rufus delicately sniffed the visitor’s
briefcase.
“From the messages already sent,” continued Cooper, “and our own investigation, we’ve been able to
glean only a few facts. Cantrell and ‘Dasher’ and their wives sometimes take vacations together. ‘Cupid’ is
highly dissatisfied with his job. Mrs. Abelardo regularly corresponds with Mrs. ‘Donder.’ Neither ‘Comet’
nor ‘Dasher’ has ever been outside the state. Mrs. Abelardo was once engaged to the brother of ‘Donder.’
Finally, Bircham makes monthly trips to Mexico City.
“I cannot impress upon you enough, Mr. Stanwick, the importance of identifying these code names. The
Bureau would greatly appreciate any help you could give us on this matter.”
Stanwick, too preoccupied to answer immediately, paused and fingered a tip of his mustache as languid
wisps of smoke curled up from his pipe. A moment later he scribbled something on his pad and tossed it
to Cooper.
“Here are the code names and their possessors. Happy hunting!”
