In 1939, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented a radio broadcast in which he addressed his nation’s tensions with Russia.

“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia,” he said. “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”

Late at night, after reading through pages of board meeting documents, audit reports and transcribed interviews, Churchill’s declaration seems relevant to the shrouded agendas hidden within Goochland’s administration building.

The riddle I get; but I, as are many of us, am still trying to find the key.

In this case, that key doesn’t seem to be Goochland’s regional interest, as I hear whispers and read buried memos regarding a long list of possibilities: Are the pipe joints in the pipes that snake beneath the Tuckahoe Creek Service District loosening? Were the methane levels at Hidden Rock Park soaring high above safety during community soccer games and celebrations? Are bacteria levels in drinking water rising?

Those concerns might seem paranoid. Or they might be well founded.

It is becoming increasingly likely that the key is the interests of a few. Who, or why, I do not know.

That is the problem with riddles and mysteries — people are by nature curious, and most will try desperately to solve an unanswered question.

Churchill’s line was quoted by a character played by Joe Pesci, in Oliver Stone’s film JFK, a movie about another time when anxiety was high, questions were many and answers were few.

But reaching into this enigma, and pulling out the key, is likely going to take a while. And the truth is, as is often the case with riddles, we never find it at all.

But what we can find, is a way to stop talking, and living, in riddles in the first place.