A mystery

The papers kept piling up, and still there was no news. Zoe parsed every little note she received from the San Francisco branch office, but there was no secret sign, not even the tiniest typo or smudge, nothing personal at all. She was furious, and every night passing the growing pile of papers on her way out of the office had to stifle a wish to set the whole thing on fire. But she was a good girl and played along as if nothing ever happened. She didn't talk about San Francisco, she didn't think about San Francisco, and once or twice she forgot about it completely.