It was the same story he used when in Italy, “… imagine my surprise when I rummaged in my pocket and found a single Little Stinking Olive!” I told him not to run it through the ponds at the Vatican, and doubly don’t dare hand twitch it through the green water at the Roman baths, but he ignored me both times …

… now, recently freed from the pillory of Saint Peter’s Basilica, I get another terse note from Panama…

“My employer dispatched me to Panama, and while I was pocketing Manuel Noriega’s collection of exotic Cubans, I found a single Little Stinking Olive …”

… naturally I’m a little concerned, as being caught hi-grading El Jefe’s stash has to be a firing squad and imprisonment, at the minimum …

Now I’m wondering who his employer is – and whether the company HQ isn’t in Langley, Virginia. Only “spooks” can take a dozen LSO’s and part them like the loaves and fishes – and by my count he lost nine of them by mid afternoon.

It’s a comfort to know he had permission, but I’m still unnerved by all them black sedans across the street.

Tags: Little Stinking Olive, Panama, Peacock Bass, Cuban cigars, pillory, St. Peter’s Basilica, fly fishing, Manuel Noriega