Tom Quinn stared at the series of messages on Malcolm's computer screen. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't quite place it. He reread the messages over and over, seeing nothing wrong. The content was suitably vague, no apparent code was detected as all the words were spelt correctly...
"Malcolm, these are meant to be two Americans, correct?"
"Yes," Malcolm replied, puzzled as to why Tom would suddenly question the nationality of their subjects.
"Look at these words. Really look."
Malcolm obliged. "I don't understand."
"We don't see anything out of place." Malcolm merely looked confused. Tom pointed at a specific word. "Look. It says prioritise." Malcolm shrugged. "Americans use the z," Tom explained.
"So we're not looking at an American operation," Malcolm said slowly.
"No, but I think someone wants us to think we are."
A/N: I can't remember the name of episode that inspired this, and it definitely was not an episode with Tom anywhere in it. Anyway, Malcolm was posing as an American's contact and both Malcolm and this American guy used 'prioritise' instead of prioritize. That's the kind of detail that could bust a case wide open, so it was drabble-worthy. :)