The Prime Minister looked curiously at the report in front of him. There was nothing unusual in the report itself, just a basic outline of the state of the economy. But predictably he thought, too many reds and not enough blacks. What was curious however, was the note slipped between the pages of the report.

'The Prime Minister goes down with the economy', signed The Shadow.

 

The Prime Minister was used to criticisms, complaints and threats. He did not expect one so close to home though, and he debated with himself as to what to do with it. All material went through many people before it got to him and several people had access to the papers in the outer office. Some even had direct access to his personal office. Any of them could have slipped in the note.

 

Well, I've three options he decided. I can ignore it and that's probably best. Or I can order an enquiry. It's doubtful if the person can be located amongst the many who have handled this report and anyway, that's over reacting. No, I'll play them at their own game. He was aware of his ability at repartee, developed and embellished by many years practice on the floor of Parliament. Smiling to himself the Prime Minister wrote on the note 'What would you know', signed it and put it back in the report.

 

Two days later a copy of the previous annotations appeared with a new message. 'More than you, at least three things'. The Shadow.

The Prime Minister considered the situation carefully before replying 'You must work for the opposition'.

 

He wished he could identify the writer, but the writing was strange and probably disguised and there was no way to isolate the source. He was amused rather than concerned and was sure the messages would soon make their point and fade away.

 

In this he was wrong. The messages increased in frequency over the next two weeks and he felt compelled to keep up the exchange.

'No, but even the opposition could guess who wrote this'. The Shadow.

The PM quickly replied 'That's about all they ever do - guess'.

 

'A wild guess is more accurate than your considered decisions'. The Shadow.

 

'That's more than you could ever do'.

 

'Well, I've kept the PM guessing who wrote this'? The Shadow.

 

'Why don't you listen to what I have to say and stop complaining'?

 

'Because you've got nothing to say'. The Shadow.

 

'Any idiot can carry on like this'.

 

'Could you'? The Shadow.

 

The PM was now at the point where his patience had run out. He also had a nasty feeling that he was not getting the better of the exchange. Enough, he thought, as he threw the Shadow's latest literary offering into the shredder.

 

The next day he was surprised to find another sentence from his nemesis.

'The press and opposition will enjoy reading all this correspondence between us. A childish activity for a national leader don't you think'? The Shadow.

 

The national leader was startled. He suddenly realised it would be profoundly embarrassing. The opinion polls were disastrous and the economy in yet another downturn. He suspected even his own party would like to remove him and there were plenty of ambitious rivals. He had to put a stop to this matter. He couldn't order an investigation now, or even confide in anyone. Possibly the public would ignore it, but more probably it would be a gift for the PM's potential replacement. All would come out. No, he had to deal with it himself. He penned a quick reply.

 

'OK I concede, I don't know who you are. Come out of the shadow, who are you? Give me the notes and the matter ends'.

 

A reply came through an hour later.

'When can we meet alone, I'm sure you don't want anyone else to see all this?'

I will meet you in your office at midnight and you can have back all the notes. It's been fun'. The Shadow.

 

Sunday's headlines amazed the whole country and disappointed quite a few.

Prime Minister found dead in Parliamentary office!

The details were brief, but a preliminary investigation concluded that he had slipped and hit his head on the edge of a table.

 

A month later the new Prime Minister sat at the predecessor's desk reading the police investigation reports. She smiled as she wrote 'The conclusion of accidental death is certain - no more action to be taken'. The events ran quickly through her thoughts. He had suffered a bad shock. There were back room moves against his position and very bad publicity, finally topped off, of course, by the threat to reveal his written pranks. But she had to correct herself when she nearly signed 'The Shadow'.