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Did that also happen in Cryptonomicon?

I believe the parent was thinking of Operation Mincemeat:

http://history.writingwithtony.com/2008/05/27/tries-spies-an...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat

Something similar happened in Cryptonomicon, certainly; in the section of the story where Detachment 2702 is 'widening the bell curve', there's the segment where they take the cook who died of a heart attack in the cold freezer (blond hair, mushroom, tattoo on his arm with a heart and the name "Griselda"), put him in the wet suit with the watch, and dump him in the ocean; they also pack a coffin full of meat from same freezer, nail it shut, and plaster it with biohazard stickers to ensure that it won't be opened.

I've read the book a few times.

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