Hide and Seek is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the May 1981 issue of "Gallery" magazine. It was later collected in The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov and The Union Club Mysteries.
Summary[]
Griswold recounts an incident from the past involving Jack Winslow, an agent from a notoriously rigid and image-conscious government agency. Winslow sought Griswold's help after a surveillance operation went wrong. His team was monitoring a pawn who was to transfer a very conspicuous six-foot-long package within a small, run-down restaurant. Five agents watched as the pawn entered the restaurant with the package and exited five minutes later without it.
Convinced the package had been passed to a pickup man inside, Winslow and his team eventually searched the entire restaurant. Despite a thorough inspection of the main area, kitchen, cellar, and men's restroom, the large package was nowhere to be found. Winslow was desperate, fearing professional ruin.
Griswold deduced the problem lay in the agents' conditioning. They were so trained to avoid unbecoming conduct that they unconsciously disregarded the women's restroom as a possible hiding place, deeming it improper to search. Griswold pointed out this oversight. Upon checking the women's restroom, the agents found the package hidden there, confirming that the pickup was a woman and saving Winslow's career.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Jack Winslow
- The Agency Chief
- The Pawn
- The Pick-up Woman
- Winslow's team (the Five Surveillance Agents)