““A lot of things seem to be happening, all at once,” I told Chester.
“Enemy action,” he replied.
“Huh?”
“That’s what you told me once. An old Army motto you found when you were doing those war books. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. This is the third time.””

Source: The Unicorn Girl (1969), Chapter 2 (p. 22)
Kurland is actually quoting here from Ian Fleming’s novel Goldfinger

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Michael Kurland 35
American writer 1938

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