THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

     Every neighborhood has its gossip. The neighborhood gossip is often a middle aged woman with no children and too much time on her hands. She takes what little information she has and, by filling in the blanks, develops her stories. Such was the case with Sylvia Renner.

     In her small neighborhood, she was convinced that the young man who had moved into a house down the street was dealing drugs from his home, as she saw people going in and out of the house at least four to five times a week, in her estimation. In fact, the young man was an Internet auction entrepreneur who managed accounts for a large number of clients.  Normally, he conducted his business via the Internet and e-mail. However, when he was talking to a new client or discussing certain issues with clients, he found it better to meet with them in person. And so, four to five times a month (not a week) clients could come over to his house. 

     Then, there was the case of the youngish divorcée, who would come home each day after work, and then leave shortly thereafter wearing “provocative” attire along with an abundance of makeup. She would often not return home until the wee hours of the morning. Sylvia Renner was convinced she was a woman of ill repute. In fact, the woman, who was indeed divorced, worked two jobs. The first was as a bank employee, a job that required conservative business attire. Three nights a week, she served as the hostess and reservations clerk for an upscale restaurant. This position required more of a “resort look.” She worked two jobs because she had a son who was mentally and physically impaired and needed to live in a special home. Her husband had left them because he couldn’t handle the challenges of a son who was not normal.

     Most folks in the neighborhood knew that Sylvia Renner’s gossip was ill founded and paid it no mind.  But her gossipy way would weave itself into an event of extraordinary importance.

     Let’s start with Mr. Hector Lopez, Sylvia Renner’s next door neighbor. He was an older man who kept pretty much to himself. Sylvia Renner was convinced he was Jewish and applied all the stereotypes of Jews to Mr. Lopez. One day, Mr. Lopez passed away and the contents of his house were taken away.  ylvia Renner kept her eyes peeled for “Jewish looking” objects and eventually did notice someone carrying out what to her was a Jewish candlestick (menorah) and some carpets that looked Jewish. She told her neighbors that, while she had nothing personally against the Jews, and while she was sorry about Mr. Lopez’s passing, she was hoping someone more normal would move into the house.

     About a week after the house was cleared, Sylvia Renner got her wish, or so she thought.  It seemed to her that an older woman was moving into the small house, a cottage really. What appeared to be her son and daughter-in-law (or vice versa) and two children were helping her move in. Sylvia Renner decided to get a closer look by doing something neighborly.

She took a pitcher of lemonade and tray of cookies over to the house. When she knocked on the door, she was greeted by the older woman.  “I know this is not a time for a visit, but I thought you all might like some refreshments. I’m Sylvia Renner, your next-door neighbor.” 

     “Thank you so much, Mrs. Renner.”

     “It’s Miss.” 

     “Miss Renner. I’m Norma Arnold. those are my son and daughter-in-law and their children helping me move in.  This neighborhood looks lovely.” 

     It was obvious that Sylvia Renner was peering in to catch whatever glimpses of things she could. “I’ll come over later and pick up the tray and pitcher.”

     “Thanks so much, Miss Renner.” 

     “My pleasure, Mrs. Arnold.”

     So, in Sylvia Renner’s mind, Norma Arnold was obviously a kindly older widow woman with a close-knit family. She immediately liked Mrs. Arnold.

     A few hours later, a car left the Mrs. Arnold’s house. Sylvia Renner bided her time, but then she proceeded over to Mrs. Arnold’s, ostensibly to retrieve her tray and pitcher. “Mrs. Arnold, I know you’re probably exhausted from your move, so I don’t want to impose on you. I just thought I’d get my tray and pitcher back and see if there might be anything you need.” 

     “Please come in, Miss Renner. The place is still a mess, but the kitchen is pretty well set up. We can go in there.” 

     “I really don’t want to impose.”

     “Nonsense, please come in.”

     Entering into the living room, Sylvia Renner could see what appeared to be boxes of books.  Mrs. Arnold was obviously an intellectual. When they entered the kitchen, there were all the appearances of someone who knew her way around a stove and oven. “My, isn’t this nice,” Sylvia Renner cooed.

     “I can’t wait to get cooking. I do lots of baking for the senior center where I volunteer.”

     “Isn’t that nice.  What brought you to this neighborhood, Mrs. Arnold, if you don’t mind my asking?” 

     “Well, my husband recently passed away, and my children thought it would be nice for me to be closer to them. They live about five miles from here. I like my own space while I can manage it, so here I am.”   

     Sylvia Renner lost no time sharing some of her knowledge of the neighbors with Mrs. Arnold. “This is a nice neighborhood. Of course, as in any neighborhood, there are some causes for concern. I don’t mean to alarm you, but the young man who lives two doors down shows every sign of being a drug dealer. I don’t think he does anything like hard drugs, although you never know. And then, there is a woman on this side of you who has a kind of reputation, if you know what I mean. Look at me, I sound like the most awful gossip. I just thought you should know. Now, the family that lives to your left, they’re just lovely. The youngest son is a bit of a scamp, but what healthy eight-year-old boy isn’t?  They seem to be just lovely. And then, there is the couple right by me. They keep to themselves, but they seem like very nice people.”

     In reality, “Mrs. Arnold” (not her real name) had heard all this before from Mr. Lopez (again not his real name).  “Mr.Lopez”  had not passed away at all, but had been moved.  “Mrs. Arnold” was his replacement. They were both national security agents. “Mrs. Arnold” knew that the young man was no drug dealer. She knew that the woman was no prostitute.  She also knew that the “lovely family” Miss Renner referred to was actually a group of terrorist operatives. The “very nice” couple who lived by Miss Renner were actually foreign espionage agents. Both the “lovely family” and the “very nice” couple had been placed in this nondescript little community because they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. They were, for all intents and purposes, just average people. Being in the same neighborhood was certainly a coincidence, as the two sets of people didn’t have anything to do with each other.

     The reason “Mr. Lopez” needed to be moved was that he suspected that his cover might have been compromised. He noticed the couple looking at him suspiciously from time to time. The security agency for which both “Mr. Lopez” and “Mrs. Arnold” worked was convinced that something major was coming down from the terrorist group. They might as well try to bring down the espionage ring. “Mrs. Arnold” was called in because she was a veteran infiltrator. Her key to the neighborhood would be Sylvia Renner.

     Mrs. Arnold needed to develop Sylvia Renner’s trust. Surveillance had indicated that the “very nice couple” who lived next door to Sylvia Renner had managed to have some routers placed in or below Miss Renner’s house.  That way, wireless signals would not all be coming from their house, but would be shared with Miss Renner, who did not own a computer or even a cell phone. She did have cable television. The “lovely family” who lived on the other side of Mrs. Arnold did not require much high tech communication for their work.  Mrs. Arnold did introduce herself to the family and even engaged the older daughter to cut her grass.

     One day, Mrs. Arnold went over to Sylvia Renner’s house for a visit. While she was there, she managed to place a very small device that would pick up wireless signals that were routed to and from Miss Renner’s house by the couple next door. Of course, she had obtained all legal clearances to do so. Through this device, it became clear that the “very nice” couple was sending and receiving highly encoded messages via Miss Renner’s house. A strong case was being developed against them.

     Mrs. Arnold decided it would be best to get through to the “lovely family” by means of Sylvia Renner. She baked a huge sheet cake and invited Sylvia Renner over for coffee.  During their time together, Mrs. Arnold excused herself for a few minutes, knowing quite well that Sylvia Renner would use the time to snoop. Mrs. Arnold strategically had them sit in her library.  Her library consisted of such things as the complete works of Shakespeare, many books on art and history, and also books on geography.  However, she also placed a number of books on covert operations, terrorism, militant groups, and such like. These books would stand out like sore thumbs against the backdrop of the other books in the library. If Mrs. Arnold knew Sylvia Renner like she thought she did, the wheels in Miss Renner’s head would start turning. She would begin to wonder about Mrs. Arnold, or at least about her family.

     When Mrs. Arnold returned to the library, it was obvious that Sylvia Renner had been snooping. “What an interesting collection you have hear, Mrs. Arnold. It’s, um, very eclectic.” 

     “Please, call me Dorothy. I should have invited you to use my first name long ago. I taught at a private school for many years. Most of these books were put to use for my classes. One of my sons was in the army and collected lots of books as well.  I’m afraid I haven’t yet organized things very well.” 

     “Did your son serve overseas?”  Sylvia Renner was trying to figure out if the books on subjects the like of covert operations might have been his. 

     “He did, and he also worked at the Pentagon.”  

     “That’s so interesting. We do live in a dangerous world, don’t we?”

     “But I think we’re all fortunate to live in the United States. Don’t you agree Miss Renner?”


     “By all means!  And , please call me Sylvia.”

     As they wrapped up their visit, Mrs. Arnold insisted that Sylvia Renner take home some of the cake she had made. She intentionally gave her a huge portion, large enough even for a “lovely family.”  Mrs. Arnold was hoping Miss Renner would share the cake with them, as it would be far too much for her. She would doubtless tell them that the cake had been baked by Mrs. Dorothy Arnold and that there was simply too much for her to eat by herself.

     What Sylvia Renner didn’t know was that that holder for the cake was imbedded with surveillance equipment to “bug” the house of the “lovely family.”  Dorothy Arnold told Sylvia Renner that the holder was disposable and need not be returned. (If  Miss Renner only knew how much that cake holder really cost!)  If all went as planned, one of two things would happen. If Miss Renner did share the cake with the family, she would probably keep it in the original holder. The “lovely family” might not suspect a thing from Miss Renner, in which case, the surveillance of the home could continue as long as the cake holder remained in the house. But, if the family suspected something, they would dispose of the holder and would be on notice that they were being observed. They were so far into their terrorist plot that they couldn’t turn back. They would probably speed things up.

     Dorothy Arnold discretely watched to see if Sylvia Renner would take the bait. Sure enough, about twenty minutes after returning home, Sylvia Renner went over to the “lovely family’s” house with the cake. Mrs. Arnold knew that Miss Renner couldn’t wait to share her discovery of her new neighbor’s library with the family. 

     With the cake holder in the house next door to Dorothy Arnold, conversations could be monitored. The “lovely family” had also obviously heard Sylvia Renner’s account of certain books she noticed in the Arnold library and her suspicions as to whether Dorothy Arnold’s son was working for the CIA.  (In fact, “Dorothy Arnold had two daughters, but no son. The “son” who helped her move in was another agent.)

     That afternoon, the daughter in the “lovely family” came over and told Dorothy Arnold that she wouldn’t be able to cut the grass anymore because she had lots of things to do.  This act was a signal to Dorothy Arnold that the “lovely family” was on to her. The “cake holder” was able to track enough information for the agency Dorothy Arnold worked for to know what was being planned. There was enough evidence to stop the “lovely family” in their tracks.

     The following Saturday morning, Dorothy Arnold had invited Sylvia Renner out for brunch  Miss Renner so rarely received invitations, she jumped at the chance. While they were out, intelligence agents and police raided the homes of the “very nice” couple and also the “lovely family.” They caught the couple red handed and confiscated not only the espionage equipment in their house, but also the equipment they had surreptitiously placed in Sylvia Renner’s house (along, of course, with the device Dorothy Arnold had placed there). The raid of the home of the “lovely family” was equally successful. All the parties were escorted from their homes. 

     Dorothy Arnold knew that the lady (the "prostitute") who lived on the other side of the “lovely family” always went to visit her son on Saturday mornings.  Miss Renner would be with her.The young man down the street always went to visit his girlfriend on weekends.  The block was essentially cordoned off.

     While “Dorothy Arnold” and Sylvia Renner were enjoying their brunch some miles away from their neighborhood, Mrs. Arnold surprised Miss Renner with the announcement that she would be moving. “My son found out just last week that he was being transferred.  As I moved here to be near them, I’m going to have to go.” 

     “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that, Dorothy,”  Sylvia Renner commented.  “I felt we were just getting to know each other. It was so nice having a nice lady closer to my own age in the neighborhood.  (In fact, Miss Renner and the “woman of ill repute” were only six years apart in age, while “Dorothy Arnold” was ten years older. ) 

     “I also found out that the “lovely family” nest door to me was leaving for a vacation before the start of school. They told me they were also anticipating a move.”

     ”Oh my,” Sylvia Renner moaned. “That leaves the drug dealer and the prostitute on the block. Well, at least that “very nice” couple to me are staying, for all the good that does.  I never see them. Tthey’re kind of standoffish. I think they might be foreign.” 

     “Well, Sylvia, I’m sure that some wonderful people will move in and that you will have great neighbors to discover.” 

     “I just hope they’re as nice and as genuine as you and that 'lovely family' next to you.  You don’t see the likes of all of you very often." 

     “On that, Sylvia, I totally agree.”