View source for Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Callsign}}
'''USUAL SUSPECTS''' is the codename adopted by an [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] (ONI) operative, likely a member of [[ONI Section Three|Section Three]], in [[2552#December|December 2552]]. On December 31 of that year, Admiral [[Octavio Morales]] (operating under the Codename: SURGEON) filed a report to USUAL SUSPECTS entitled "[[Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J.]]" The report was filed from {{UNSCShip|Point of No Return}} in synchronous orbit on the far side of [[Luna]].{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole}} The language of the report would suggest that USUAL SUSPECTS is SURGEON's superior or superiors.

==Possible mentions==
While not directly confirmed, there have been several indirect allusions to USUAL SUSPECTS in relation to various ONI activites.

After the [[United Nations Space Command]] were put on high alert following the [[Covenant]] declaration of [[Human-Covenant War|war]] on November 1, 2525,{{Ref/Game|HW|Halo Wars Timeline Events|Timeline Events|Detail=1 November 2525}} Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] wrote in [[Dr. Halsey's personal journal|her journal]] several days later on November 5 that the only people who did express any signs of visible emotion at the prospect of the war were the "''[[Vice Admiral]]''" ([[Michael Stanforth]]) and the "''usual suspects''". Halsey pondered if they had somehow expected or already knew about the Covenant in advance of the news.{{Ref/Book|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Page=November 5, 2525}}

During a joint UNSC-[[Swords of Sanghelios]] meeting at [[Site Z]] on [[Nysa]] in [[2559#November|November 2559]], [[Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence]] (CINCONI) Admiral [[Serin Osman]] expressed her bewilderment that such a complex could have been constructed and kept secret from her. When asked who had been responsible for the site, Admiral [[Jilan al-Cygni]] (another codenamed operative working under the Codename: COALMINER) responded "''the usual suspects''", possibly indicating that Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS was somehow involved in the history of the Section Three facilities on the world.{{Ref/Novel|ET|Chapter=11}}

==Production notes==
{{Conjecture}}
It is likely that USUAL SUSPECTS' real identity is that of Admiral [[Margaret Parangosky]], the CINCONI for most of the Human-Covenant War until her retirement some time between [[2553]] and [[2555]]. If the above possible covert mentions of "usual suspects" are taken as indirect allusions to the codename, Parangosky fits the bill as a character who:
*Outranks Octavio Morales (who would have the rank of Admiral, or one close to it) around late 2552.
*Would have access to both Morales' report on Vice Admiral Cole, but also access to Black-Box, allowing the AI to learn of the report enough to later volunteer ONI's findings to Abigail Cole.
*Has a military career lasting from the war's beginning in November 2525 (as per Halsey's Journal) and its end (as per ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole'').
*Had enough involvement in the [[SPARTAN-II program]] in its early years to have direct contact with both Halsey and Vice Admiral Stanforth.
*Has the power and sway to influence the construction of Section Three's facilities on Nysa in the early-Covenant War, but also to keep them hidden enough that her successor would not know about them (as per ''Empty Throne'').
{{Conjecture end}}

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
**''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo: Empty Throne]]'' {{Im}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:USUAL SUSPECTS}}
[[Category:Human characters]]
[[Category:Office of Naval Intelligence personnel]]