I am not sure if I've ever written on this subject here before, but I have a knack for detective work. Years ago, in my Oneonta days, I worked at a gift shop. It was a strange operation, run by a hippyish guy who made his living outside of the shop at flea markets. He spent little or no time in the store, basically I was there most hours it was open, and paid myself every week from the cash register. He had a "harem" and a teenage son who very occasionally worked with me, or relieved me when the shop was open late. One of them took whatever cash was in the drawer, less my pay, when they stopped in.

One day when I arrived to open up I found the door pried open, and several state BCI cops inside. Turns out the guy was running a major scam, and the police had been investigating him for years. He had several phony businesses and one real store. He made up fake wholesalers, and used them to vouch for the credit of the stores. He got deliveries on credit, sold the stuff below list price at flea markets, dumped the remainder at the shop, and never paid any invoices or sales taxes. Turns out he had members of his harem sign for everything, so they were on the hook. He hired an expensive private lawyer for himself, and they were stuck with the public defender.

I'd been suspicious for a very long time, but never dreamed how big a scam it was. I cooperated fully with the police, helped them box up the seized merchandise, and told them what I had observed.

Anyway, the point of this anecdote is that afterwards, the cops tried to convince me to take the state trooper exam. They even stopped at my apartment and dropped off an application. They felt I would make a great detective and assured me that the beat cop aspect of patrolling in a car would be short-term. But although I was flattered, I am the farthest thing from a jock, I don't drive, and I am afraid of guns, so I didn't go through with it. I could have aced the test and the academics, but I would never have gotten through the physical stresses of the academy.

Regardless, I do find detective work fascinating. So I've been doing some thinking about who the emailer from the prior post could be...and have arrived at six possibilities. I won't list them, since I don't write those sort of details here. But the translation of the French name and email address is "The Lord High Steward of the King's Household."