“Bull,” Ellen sputtered as she settled in and set the cups of coffee in the cup holders. “You’re bored, just like me, and have nothing better to do than bust my chops.”

“Ellen,” Ted replied using the same exaggerated manner he had before, “I thought you would be thrilled sitting out here, in suburbia, watching the comings and goings of a suspected terrorist?”

“If I wanted to waste my days sitting in a car,” Ellen mumbled as she pulled the lid off her cup of coffee, “I’d stay home and play chauffeur for my own kids.” Then she looked up, out the windshield of the car at the small two bedroom cracker box belonging to Louis Garvey and a local mortgage company once owned by GO Thomas. “He still hasn’t come out this morning?” Ellen asked before carefully testing the temperature of her coffee by taking a small sip.

“Nope,” sighed Ted as he settled back into a more comfortable position. “Unlike our fearless leader, Captain Queeg, Mr. Garvey varies his routine.”

“Captain who?” Ellen asked as she sipped her coffee and watched the house.

“Captain Queeg, the commanding officer in Herman Wouk’s book The Caine Mutiny. Are you telling me you never heard of it?”

Ellen looked over at Ted. “Why? Should I have?”

“Well,” Lahowitz replied incredulously, “The Caine Mutiny is only the most famous novel of World War Two.”

In a tone that reminded him of his wife’s response when she was unimpressed or uninterested in something he was discussing, Ellen responded with a short, crisp “Oh.”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

Ellen looked up. “No, I really don’t.”

“Well,” Ted started, shifting his weight so that he faced his partner, “it’s the middle of World War Two. There’s this Navy warship …”

“Was there another type of warship in World War Two?” Ellen asked playfully.

Ignoring her barb, just as he did with his spouse, Ted continued. “They have this captain, Captain Queeg, who’s a real zero. He’s a real marionette who does nothing but make life for his ship’s company and their officers absolutely miserable.”

“I see,” Ellen responded in a silly, exaggerated female voice as she watched the house.

Undeterred by her efforts to make fun of him, Ted went on. “Well, when Captain Queeg finds out that he’s unpopular, he retreats to his cabin every chance he gets, just like our own, jolly special agent in charge. When he does come out Queeg always takes the same path to the bridge or the ward room in an effort to avoid contact with his crew. The crew, in turn, kept that part of the ship spotless while leaving the rest of the boat go to hell.”

“Unlike some people I know, I keep my desk straight even though Tim Werner doesn’t bother walking by there.”