Nina used office space in London she wasn’t entitled to. In fact, nobody knew it existed. She broke into an office that had been used for an operation. It hadn’t been returned to its previous owner.
She found out about it by carefully reading through a friend’s email inbox. He worked in Intelligence. He used a personal account to manage less sensitive work.
She was cleverer than people gave her credit for. She was able to locate the building. She couldn’t make out further details but it was enough to buy time to start out.
Her onsite research confirmed the building had a residual status as a safe place. It was low level but enough to be leveraged. It was better than her own apartment.
Her activity started with random calls to businesses. These are the kind salespeople try to start a new contact. She staged HR services to people who had personnel issues in their offices.
The chaos started. She rapidly deceived, set up fake meetings, and roped in local criminals. There were reports of arguments, fights, and random acts of robbery. Nina created a local controversy.
The Police found it difficult to locate her. Its status meant the office was in a hidden location. It also meant someone had to be sure of who was inside. They didn’t have a lot of paperwork.
MI5 contacted an officer. He was told its location. He looked into it. He found Nina in a fake meeting. His detective work saved London from malaise. The effort also saved a business from closure.