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By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

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BY WAY OF DECEPTION 42ter, not on top, and like many other things there, tend to beregarded as confidential. It was just beginning to get dark as Icrossed the street, still not knowing how I was going to get thatname. I knew I had backing. I knew it was a game. But still, I wasafraid and excited. I wanted to succeed, even though, when youthink <strong>of</strong> it, the task was pretty stupid.I decided to speak English, because right away you're treatedbetter. They think you're a tourist. As I approached the desk toask if there were any messages for me, I thought <strong>of</strong> the old jokeabout phoning somebody and asking if Dave is there. You phoneseveral times and ask the same question, and the guy answeringthe phone gets angrier each time because you've got the wrongnumber. Then you phone and say, "Hi, this is Dave. Are there anymessages for me?"The clerk looked up at me. "Are you a guest?""No, I'm not," I said. "But I'm expecting to meet somebody here."The desk clerk said there were no messages, so I sat down to waitin the lobby. After about half an hour, during which time Icontinually looked at my watch, I returned to the desk."Maybe he's already here and I've missed him," I said."What's his name?" asked the clerk. I mumbled a name thatsounded something like "Kamalunke." The clerk reached for theguest book and began to look it over. "How do you spell that?""I'm not sure. Either with a C or a K," I said, leaning over the desk,ostensibly to help the clerk find the name, but in reality, readingthe third name from the top.Then, as if just realizing my mistake, I said, "Oh, this is the BaselHotel. I thought it was the City Hotel. I'm sorry. How stupid <strong>of</strong> me."Again, I felt great. Then I wondered how the hell my instructorswould know that the name I'd got was right. But in Israel, theyhave access to everything.<strong>By</strong> now, the hotel lobbies were beginning to fill up with people, sothe two instructors and I walked up the street. Saying it was theday's last test, one handed me a telephone mike with two wiresattached. The equipment had a letter on the back for identificationpurposes. I was told to enter the

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