David McCloskey

So this is a guy who I think, like Mendez, is a craftsman.

These are two craftsmen who just happen to end up in the middle of a spy story.

So by January of 1980, Mendez is

headed back to Ottawa for another trip.

And this is a part, I mean, Gordon, I'll just nod here to the Canadian cooperation because there's a whole piece to the preparation for this exfil that is deep connection between the CIA's Office of Technical Service and the Canadians over how to make these documents appear accurate for the exfil.

To show how enmeshed the Canadians are in this, Mendes actually pitches the Canadians first on the Hollywood idea.

I will offer.

No comment.

No comment.

I actually don't believe in Bigfoot.

Do you have a Bigfoot thing in the UK?

No, I don't believe in Bigfoot.

I want to, but I don't.

So Mendez pitches the Canadians.

Canadians kind of like the idea about the Hollywood cover.

And Mendez starts to work on a plan.

And he actually, inside Ottawa Station, writes up in longhand, on a yellow legal pad, a 16-page ops plan that gets cabled to Langley.

And Mendez then flies back to Washington and has a meeting with higher-ups inside the agency's Near East Division.

Because again, Mendez works in the Office of Technical Service.

The Near East Division has primacy for operations in Iran, so they need to be on board with this.