THE SPY WHO CAME DOWN WITH A COLD 281turn the advance in to admin people in another admin office across town.
I drove across town and attempted to turn the foreign currency in to the
admin officer there. She informed me government regulations prevented
her from accepting foreign currency, and I would have to exchange the DM
for US dollars at a bank before returning the money. I dutifully complied,
handed over the dollars, and assumed this annoying and time- consuming
admin matter was finally closed. (Admittedly, I’m a slow learner.)
About one year later, I received a cable from headquarters saying I
owed about $150 because the value of the DM had fluctuated between the
time I was advanced the DM in Bosnia and the time I turned them in to
the cross-town admin person months later in US dollars. Plus, the bank’s
commission ate up some of the value. I explained that I’d never requested
or touched the advance, which I returned in full, so I should not owe any-
thing. Moreover, the unsolicited advance was made so that I could perform
official duties—namely, volunteering to risk my life in Sarajevo to report
critical intelligence. This wasn’t a car loan from the CIA’s credit union.
“Surely,” I concluded in the cable to headquarters in which I pled my
case, “under these circumstances, CIA should assume responsibility and
absorb the $150 loss.”
“Request denied,” was the curt reply. “And stop calling me Shirley.”
(If only they’d added that last sentence, since a bit of humor might have
induced me to pay up and settle the matter once and for all.)
As a fair-minded Libra, I ignored this clearly unjust order to pay $150
to the CIA and was hoping they’d forget about it. I’d almost forgotten
about it myself.
When I resigned from the CIA, I learned I had the option of leaving my
retirement money in the CIA retirement fund, or taking a cash payout.
I opted for the cash payout. After I made my official request, headquar-
ters informed me that they would not release my retirement funds until
I paid the $150 I owed from my Sarajevo TDY. The CIA’s memory is
long, whether tracking a Hezbollah terrorist for years after his kidnapping
and murder of a CIA officer, or keeping a watchful eye on a dubious debt
owed to headquarters by a staff operations officer. The CIA was holding