Togo (Goes) on Assignment (The Speech)
Chapter 2: Athens, Scene 6
Togo Goes on Assignment is published weekly as a series. If you came in late, you might want to go back to the beginning. Or, if you’re cut from the same adventuresome cloth as Togo, feel free to read on and figure things out as you go.
As Togo expected, Dan and Allison were thrilled to hear about the stakeout location. Togo had tried to reach Margot but she wasn’t answering her satellite phone. But Togo didn’t worry. He figured that Margot had gone under deep cover. In fact, he suspected that she was watching him right now. With that thought, he squared his shoulders and struck a heroic pose.
Allison snapped him back to attention as she laid out the plans for their surveillance operation. Dan would be posing on a nearby block of granite pretending to be a sculpture. Togo would hang out in the little park where he had a full view of the altar and the bird sculpture. Allison would run communications and coordinate with the local authorities.
The next morning, the trio took their positions. Dan struck a pose . . .
. . . and Togo laid down in the grass.
Several hours went by. Wow, Togo thought, I’m glad that Allison is talking to me through this little earpiece or I might doze off.
About that time, Togo heard a sharp cry of pain coming from Dan’s direction. Evidently, posing like a Greek statue for hours on end can result in muscle cramps.
“Agent down,” Togo barked into his coms unit.
Just moments later, Allison pulled up in a white van, opened the side door, and rolled Dan inside.
“You’re going to have to go it alone, Top Dog! I’m getting Dan rehydrated,” the voice crackled in Togo’s ear as the van moved out of range.
No worries, Togo thought. I’ll just do what I’m doing and I’ll apprehend the subject on my own.
Togo woke up almost two hours later. Wow, I needed that nap! he thought to himself. He glanced over at the bird statue and sensed there was something very wrong. Moving closer he could tell that someone had attempted to remove the head of the bird — probably to make it easier to repair. But the perpetrator must have been interrupted mid-task. The head was now sitting backward on the body!
Suddenly, Togo saw a hand reaching toward him. He tried to duck, but it was too late.
“You’re coming with me!” the police officer said gruffly.
Within the hour, Togo found himself facing a group of Athens citizens. From the banner on the podium, he could see that he had been pulled into a meeting of the Mars Hill Rotary Club.
The man who was chairing the meeting demanded, “Tell us what you and your friends were doing down in the park. You’ve raised quite a ruckus. Explain yourself!”
Togo took a deep breath and then spoke with his deepest voice.
“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very anxious people — and perhaps a little obsessive-compulsive. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your temples and statues and read the little labels, I found one with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN OWL. Unbelievable! You folks even put up a statue to try to remember a bird that no one can remember!
“I’m here tonight to tell you that the particular bird you’ve enshrined could be the key to solving an international mystery. In fact, that bird, the very owl you seem confused about, had almost revealed the identity of a nefarious do-gooder who is secretly repairing your local artifacts. And I would have nabbed the suspect if your police officer hadn’t carted me away to bring me here.”
The crowd began to mumble excitedly and argue among themselves. Togo nonchalantly turned and walked away with his head held high.
Ambling down the narrow street back to his hotel, Togo felt his satellite phone vibrating. He nudged the screen with his nose and found himself face-to-face with Margot’s image.
“Well, you’ve effectively blown our cover in Athens,” Margot began. “Get a good night’s sleep. Allison and Dan will drop you off at a private hangar at Athens International Airport, El. Venizelos. I’ll see you on board.”
“I think I was close, Margot,” Togo began.
“You’ll never know how close,” she said. “Or what a tough opponent we’re up against.”
The line went dead. Togo realized he hadn’t eaten in hours. And since he would be leaving Athens in the morning, he thought he better grab something on the way to the hotel. Local cuisine would be best.
“Yogurt!” he spouted. “Greek yogurt! Oh, happy day!”
Those around him in the street were puzzled by the outburst. Several, thinking Togo was a street performer began to follow him and clap. By the time he crossed the threshold to his hotel, Togo was leading a parade of several hundred locals. He never got his yogurt but he loved being the grand marshal.
Watching from the roof of a nearby building, Margot shook her head. This could have been a mistake.
[With apologies to Dr. Luke and Acts:17.]