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On May 29, Careful gave Carrot a battery-powered bug in a walnut-covered container to match the bookcase. It was 13 in. long, 1½ in. wide and ½ in. deep and contained a microphone and a transmitter that could be activated by an outside high-frequency signal to broadcast conversations from deep inside State Department offices. No sooner was the meeting over than Mrkva gingerly handed the bug to waiting FBI agents.
Puzzled by its sudden silence, Opatrny told Mrkva that the Czechs wondered why the bug had worked perfectly for 20 minutes and then stopped. Mrkva said he had accidentally dropped the mechanism. Opatrny then ordered him to get it back since the Czechs hoped to plant a similar device in the office of Under Secretary George Ball. Said he: "Everyone wants to know what is wrong with it."
Everyone found out what was wrong last week when the FBI released details of the case. Careless George Careful was "PNG'D" (kicked out of the U.S. as persona non grata) by the State Department. Mrkva, who had turned over to the FBI all of his receipts from the Czechs, admitted that spying "was hardly worthwhile" as a way to get rich quick. But the State Department showed its appreciation by giving him a raise from $9,267 to $10,619 a year.