by Bruce Hale
Do the dead drop
To make a successful dead drop, here are three things for the trainee spy to bear in mind:
1. Pick the right spot.
You want to make sure not to draw unwanted attention, either to the drop-off and pickup, or to the package itself when unattended. Popular locations include a hole in a tree, behind a loose brick, inside a cutout library book (an unpopular book, of course!), or beneath a park bench. By contrast, leaving the package outside a police station or airport will only land you in deep, deep doo-doo. Choose wisely.
2. Make sure it blends in.
Whatever you’re leaving in the dead drop should either be out of sight enough to go unnoticed or so much a part of the scene that it gets overlooked. A suspicious-looking package taped to a wall stands out. But a fake rock in a yard blends in with all the real rocks around it.
Along those lines, make sure your hiding spot isn’t too obvious. Leaving a key under the welcome mat? A rookie mistake. Leaving a key in an empty soda can under the hedge? Much more spy-worthy.
3. Use protection.
If you’re hiding something in the ground or behind a trash bin, you want to make sure it’s still in usable shape by the time your contact picks it up. Ever since the sixties, real spies have been using dead-drop spikes, a waterproof concealment device that hides money, microfilm, documents, and other items. But if you can’t make it to the spy store and have to improvise, any waterproof container will do.
Best of luck, and remember the spy’s Number One rule of dead drops: don’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
Excerpted from:
Survival Skills for the Modern Spy, 3rd Edition
by Giacomo Fleming, Belle Maclean, and S. Gromonowitz
For more spy information and activities, please visit www.school4spies.com.
TO SUCCEED on his mission, every spy needs a top-flight support team. A writer is no different. This time around, I’m particularly grateful for the eagle eye and terrific story sense of my editor, Stephanie Lurie, who helped me through a rough patch of the writing and asked the questions I hadn’t even thought to ask.
Thanks also to my technical consultants, Peter Selvaggio (security matters) and Mick Guinn (computer hacking), for helping this nontechie understand what’s what. Major mahalos go out to Terry Sheldon (beta reader and British slang), Annie Sung Bernstein and Janette Cross (Japanese), and Carol Bond (Aussie slang). Your comments were invaluable.
And finally, a Blofeld volcano–size thank-you to my wife, Janette, for all her patience, support, and understanding. Living with a writer is no easy task, and you manage it with grace to spare.
BRUCE HALE began his career as a writer while living in Tokyo and continued it when he moved to Hawaii in 1983. Before entering the world of children’s books, he held such diverse jobs as magazine editor, surveyor, gardener, actor, and deejay (but alas, not spy). He has written and illustrated over twenty-five books for kids, including the first two books in the School for S.P.I.E.S. series; the Underwhere graphic novel series; and the Chet Gecko Mysteries series. Bruce loves to travel and give talks, and he has visited schools both nationally and internationally. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife, Janette, and his dog, Riley. For more intel, go to school4spies.com.
BRANDON DORMAN received his BFA in fine art from Brigham Young University—Idaho and since then has created hundreds of illustrations for books and magazines. Some of his best-known works include the New York Times #1 best-selling picture book The Wizard by Jack Prelutsky, cover art for the Newbery Honor Book Savvy by Ingrid Law, and the best-selling series Fablehaven and Goosebumps. For more information, visit www.brandondorman.com.
