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"Lady, this case has cost the government thousands of dollars. It has been the top priority in our office for the last six weeks. We traced the glasses to your
by everly 4y ago
"Lady, this case has cost the government thousands of dollars. It has been the top priority in our office for the last six weeks. We traced the glasses to your son from the prescription by examining the files of nearly every optometrist in San Diego." It apparently didn't occur to them that if I were a real Japanese spy, I might have brought the glasses with me from headquarters.
First of all, absolutely hilarious - second of all, pretty intrigued by the old-school, brute-force method that actually ended up working.
- Asooka 4y agoThird of all, it's the government's own fault they lost their mind over a child's toy.
- JamesSwift 4y agoWhat makes you think that type of thing is old school? This kind of brute forcing is still very much in use [1], but usually we are better at having computers do a lot of the filtering these days. [1] - https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/white-sedan-police-found-suspect-idaho-slayings-96257620 https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/white-sedan-police-found...
- floatrock 4y agoJust the other day Italian police announced they found some old mafia boss who was hiding for 30 years because they got a tip he was sick, so they scoured the national health records for clinics treating someone around the right age with the same conditions.
- everly 4y agoAs you mention, these days we use computers to filter; lacking those is what made it old school, as I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that they were manually reviewing paper records.
- adonig 4y ago"It apparently didn't occur to them that if I were a real Japanese spy, I might have brought the glasses with me from headquarters." I'm not a criminologist but I think they might have classified the glasses and the glasses case and maybe found enough evidence indicating that the glasses have been made in the U.S. or maybe even in San Diego. Even if they didn't, then it's still their job to do exactly what they did and they were successful. They found the real owner of the glasses and were able to confirm, that the person isn't a potentially dangerous enemy spy. That case can be closed and they can do something else.
- adrianmonk 4y agoAlso, it's plausible that a Japanese spy would buy new glasses in the US. It would probably be smart. Why take a chance that someone will notice your slightly unusual-looking glasses? Just get new ones that look normal.