Louise Pearlie is a file clerk with the OSS.
That is how she usually calls her employment when asked and it is the truth though she is too modest to state that she is the Chief File Clerk for the European/North African division. As such she manages several other women in the incredibly crowded office in downtown Washington, D.C.
She reached this position because of her Associates Degree in business and possibly her slightly advanced age, being several years older than most of the women applying for work there. This is not to imply she was old or even middle age as she is in her mid-to-late 20s when we first meet her. But she is definitely more mature and experienced than the others.
Pearlie is a widow. Her husband of just a few short years died a couple of years before she made the trek north to D.C. from her home in Wilmington, North Carolina. He had died from pneumonia brought on by adult Measles. With him gone and few prospects for employment in her hometown, she was left with the choice of living off the graces of her parents in the fishing industry or trying elsewhere. The demand for bodies in the nation's capitol after the declaration of war gave her the chance to make it on her own.
Pearlie is most definitely not a spy nor does she have any aspirations to be or act like one. She is, however, extremely intelligent, resourceful, and decidedly intrepid and in the now crowded hub of government, the chances for all sorts of interesting events involving foreigners and intrigue and all too often double dealing are such that someone with her personality could not help but find excitement.