Icing on the Cake
Reader discretion is advised.
From: Axley, Jason
To: Carolina, Merva
Merv,
I’m not sure whether we should be celebrating, but Obfucius pointed out the identity of a major POI. Our files on this guy could fill a file cabinet–a self-described ufologist named Edgar Boothby. Eccentric is a word and a half—his blog is a conspiracy theorist’s madhouse, though a surprising number of his theories are close to reality. I would suggest you read up on him since we’ll be casing him in a few days. Obfucius was adamant that we protect this asset, and rarely has he repeated a directive.
Aside from our making contact with the asset, it is paramount that we locate a file which has so far eluded Obfucius. our directive is clear: either we access this file or request that Boothby explain its contents to us.
To better explain, as an infant Boothby was dropped on the doorstep of the now-shuttered Miracle of Honor Grove Orphanage in New Jersey. It was once an asylum, converted to an orphanage, and closed in 1983.
The headmistress Francesca Sagini during Mister Boothby’s childhood kept detailed files on her many charges. Her file on him is the very one in question.
Copies of the files found their way into the state archives, but the trail ends there—fellow feds classified them, and they’re now locked at a level of secrecy beyond our area chief. Subdirector Deakins gained the clearance to release it, but the physical copy is no longer there. I’ve spoken with caretakers there at Honor Grove, but whatever papers once there were destroyed by flooding in 1993.
The headmistress (and her staff who were present during Boothby’s stay) are deceased.
Sagini was known to abuse the children severely, so I wonder if this isn’t a wild goose chase. If she was as psychotic as legend has it, the files may simply be trophies of her exploits. Obfucius sees it differently, as it is strange that the files were classified, locked, and then stolen. 
For his part, Obfucius is persuaded that Mister Boothby’s adult obsession with the lights suggests a psychic coupling with some part of the grid—this encounter would have been in the 1950s. But I really wonder if our prime source and I are thinking of the same person. I’ve read four of Boothby’s books now, and I think he is precisely the crackpot to obliterate the smidge of credibility we still possess in the bureau. Christ, we lost dignity long ago.
However, Obfucius was, as I wrote above, enthusiastically insistent. Playing devil’s advocate (though I don’t imagine Obfucius to possess horns or a bifurcated tail), we could soon find ourselves a step closer to capturing part of the grid. I need not stress, the overwhelming potential of having physical evidence. The bureau would at last take seriously the careful work we’ve undertaken these many years. It would be the icing on the cake–power beyond comprehension.
Please call me when you get into the office. I’ll book tickets to SFO as soon as we agree on a day and time.
Jax