Hook

Just let me say from the outset that I am not reviewing Len Deighton’s trilogy here, although I could because it is an excellent way to tell a story. In the first and second books, he presented the story from the husband’s and then the wife’s perspective. In the third, he went over the same story but from the perspective of an overview. I once contemplated combining the three books into one screenplay, but then changed my mind. I still might, one day.

This post is about my dream last night. And before you decide to stop reading right here, think about it: this is where we get our ideas from; from dreams. In this case, it was a lucid dream, so that I’m wondering if this is how it happened to me in another life.

The Hook is a classic way of baiting a chump. You let the target see something ‘accidentally’ happen in front of him that he wouldn’t ordinarily witness. In my dream, I was substituting for the cleaner who usually takes care of the washrooms at the agency. During my tour of the toilets, I saw someone exchanging a package with an agent. The package looked like it might contain a lot of money.

Line

The Line in my dream was that a couple of clerks at the agency were in on the game and as I watched them go about their clandestine business, my suspicions were aroused.

At one point the agent’s suitcase was left lying around, open on the office floor, for just a few minutes, but definitely with enough time for me to scan its contents as walked through the office on my way elsewhere. It all looked way too suspicious.

Meanwhile, the agent had noticed that I’d noticed, and he confronted me in the hallway.

Instead of denying having seen anything, I told him exactly what I’d pieced together of the puzzle. At this point, I woke up.

Sinker

Reviewing the events of the dream, I ‘saw’ what the agent was trying to achieve: he was giving me clues and incentive to do the honourable thing and report what I had seen to my superiors. It was a test.

But I seen through the ruse. I knew it was a game and not the real thing. By speaking truthfully what I saw and admitting that I’d solved the puzzle, I was acting like a renegade. This was not protocol.

It meant that I’d be perfect for the job. What job? A double agent.