In response to a question, a clarification:

An anonymous correspondent has questioned my recent report of Mr. _____'s unfortunate incarceration, wondering if I had mistakenly typed "15 years" when I meant "15 months," a more likely, though still somewhat immoderate, sentence for the crime of orchid smuggling.

Indeed I did not. Mr. ____'s sentence has been set at 15 years, and if I may say so frankly, he was lucky to get that. The orchids in question were more-than-commonly outre, as were his methods for obtaining them, and while I am not at liberty to elaborate, I might state euphemistically that the laws of Man were not the highest of those which were contravened in pursuit of his epiphytic prize, and this no doubt contributed directly to the unconventionally stiff penalty which he faces. Let us then consider "orchid smuggling" a convenient label under which to subsume a nested series of offenses the exact nature of which is unlikely to come to light, and allow the matter to rest. Further inquiry, my good Anonymous, will not profit you.

=PD