Gift,also known as Decipher Deception, is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the June 1981 issue of Gallery magazine. Later collected in The Union Club Mysteries.
Summary[]
At the Union Club, Griswold recounts a critical incident from his past involving a high-stakes mole hunt within his own intelligence organization. The agency had a top-tier mole, Rudolf Schwemmer, embedded deep within the East German spy apparatus. Schwemmer sent word that he had uncovered the identity of a mole within the agency's own leadership and would reveal it when the four top officials, including Griswold, were gathered in a secure room.
The awaited message arrived, but it contained only the single word: "gift." The immediate assumption was that Schwemmer had been captured mid-transmission, and the truncated word was useless. The four officials—Acting Chief Judson Cowles, Deputy Seymour Norman Hyde, Code Chief Morris Q. Yeats, and Griswold—debated its meaning to no avail.
Griswold, however, realized the clue was complete. He recalled that Schwemmer, a native German speaker, would have reverted to his first language under extreme stress. In German, the word "Gift" translates to "poison." Griswold connected this to one of the men in the room: Seymour Norman Hyde, who insisted on being called by the nickname "Sy." The name "Sy N. Hyde" is a homophone for "cyanide," a well-known poison. Griswold identified Hyde as the traitor, leading to his arrest.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Rudolf Schwemmer
- Judson Cowles
- Seymour Norman "Sy" Hyde
- Morris Q. Yeats
- The Guards
Historical Figures mentioned[]
- Adolf Hitler