Spy Dust
Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations That Helped Win the Cold War
Prologue
The Year of the Spy
Washington, D.C.
April 16, 1985
The lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington was one cavernous hallway with medallions of oriental carpet at carefully measured intervals. A row of crystal chandeliers was strung down the city-block-long corridor, and their reflections danced in the multitude of gold-framed mirrors lining the walls. The hotel had many entrances, sitting as it did at a strategic intersection of Connecticut Avenue and De Sales Street, four blocks from the White House. A prestigious location for more than half a century, the Mayflower had served as a site for numerous presidential inaugural balls.
On this date, a new footnote was to be added to the hotel's colorful history.
In the bar just off the lobby, a man was sitting at a corner table so that he could observe the foot traffic on both Connecticut and De Sales. He had been waiting for more than thirty minutes and, nervous by nature, had already downed a couple of double vodka martinis. This waiting game went again ... read full excerpt from: Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations that Helped Win the Cold War ebook
