A phone call that makes no sound at eighty meters, fine, open air carries less than people think, but not whispered either, I would still catch whispering at ten meters if I was paying attention and I was paying attention. Silent. Device to the ear, no jaw movement, no throat movement, none of it, and you breathe different when youre talking, everybody does, my ex could tell when I was lying on the phone just from where the pauses landed, that's not related, forget I said that, but his breathing wasnt doing any of it. four minutes and some seconds before he cleared the corner and not one breath out of place the entire time.

The phone is the second prop. The clipboard is the first -- it implies accountability without inviting questioning, because people with clipboards are presumed to be working and working people are presumed to have legitimate reason to be where they are. The phone is a deterrent to approach. A man on a call cannot be interrupted, or he can be interrupted only at social cost that most people are not willing to incur in public. The phone is a social barrier that he is wearing.

Two props at once would stand out, so he doesnt, clipboard on some days, phone on this one, never both. the phone only showed up on the sixth. dont know the reason for that. dont need to know the reason to clock that the route was mine, spontaneous, mine, nobody elses, and the deterrent wasnt there for the first five and is there now. that part isnt a guess.