When PR reps have something they think is truly special, things can get a little cloak and dagger.

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"He put away his cloak and dagger and picked up his doctor's coat and went to work, " O'Donnell said.

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In fact, he only agreed to an interview with CNN after a number of conversations that involved middle men, telephone calls with ever changing numbers and, finally, a cloak and dagger meeting complete with a secret phrase and response.

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History buffs, cloak-and-dagger fans and those who appreciate fine literature will find the novels of Alan Furst irresistible.

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For the cloak-and-dagger set, the Spies of Washington Tour gives travelers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the city's history of international espionage.

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But this cloak-and-dagger approach suggests that, while twin studies have come a long way, they have not shaken off their controversial past quite yet.

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But the interior ministry, worried about a company with such strong links to Russia as Chemapol, campaigned against Mr Junek, circulating a document detailing his cloak-and-dagger past.

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Casey got his cloak-and-dagger start during World War II.

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By the same token, a Mossad source says that cloak-and-dagger operations still have their uses, even though ultra-modern electronic and biometric skills, used with surprising efficiency (in Israeli eyes) by Dubai's police, make such operations, involving wigged disguises and old-style skulduggery, harder to pull off.

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