358 — This week on Cargo

The first clue: all of the smugglers had booked reservations the day before a flight. Second, the couriers used only Gmail or Yahoo! e-mail accounts. And third, they had (obviously fake) phone numbers that used a shared formula.

And every appearance sent a tiny fraction of a penny winging back up the Scoochi tree of creation. For once, Tim didn’t mind the rip-off. The Scooch-a-mout affiliance was as broad as any. Even hardware illegals at the edge of the world would benefit from the royalties.

Cars coming across the straits from Cuba were always greatly overpacked to save space and shipping costs, and the relatively fragile fruit had to be sorted into new containers before being sent along to its ultimate destination.

Then there is the uncanny business of the truffle that somehow gains weight between leaving the ground and arriving on the scales. It could be that it has been gift wrapped in an extra coating of earth. On the other hand, it could be that a heavier substance altogether has found its way inside the truffle itself—invisible until, in mid-slice, your