An Iraqi intelligence agent infiltrated an Iraqi American family by feigning a medical need

Evidence

And she remembered the time Ra’ed brought this “Scorpion” to their house. It was back in early 2002. Late one night, around 11:00 P.M., Ra’ed had called up her father because, he said, his friend had a rash on his ear and wanted some medical advice before he left the country the next morning. Lina’s father brushed them off at first. It was late, and Lina’s stepmother had just returned home from some minor surgery that day. But Ra’ed was insistent. “Please, Amu,” he said, calling Haythem uncle. “We won’t be late. We won’t stay long.” Half an hour later, the two men were at their door. Ra’ed’s friend was built like a retaining wall, rough and imposing. When he was at the house, he even asked Lina’s father if his daughter, Lina’s younger sister, was single and interested in marriage. Haythem ignored the question, offering the man some simple medical advice instead and politely urging the two to leave. At the time the visit seemed stupid, a tactless intrusion into their night. It did not seem like the spy mission she was beginning to believe it was. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 668

Categorization

• FICTION: The ruse of a fake medical consult to gain entry into a family home is a classic spy-craft detail; the absurd byplay — asking about the sister’s marriage during a fabricated medical visit — has a dark-comic texture useful in fiction.