A: I wonder how George managed to secure those profitable contracts with his contractors.

B: People close to George have sometimes been taken aback by his cloak-and-dagger tradecraft.

Note: This vivid term means “dealing in or suggestive of melodramatic intrigue and action usually involving secret agents and espionage.” “Cloak and dagger” has the same feel as the expression “smoke and mirrors” in that they both conjure up images of subterfuge and deceit. Charles Dickens was said to have brought the expression to the English language in 1841.