scratch me was code for arranging a payoff or bribe , the details of which would be worked out later ; geisha was code for arranging a woman , regardless of the desired ethnicity ; cut was code for sabotage , say for example , if a contractor was dangerously close to earning an outrageous and poorly negotiated early-completion bonus , and was unwilling to kick any of it back , and tom needed to have an essential piece of equipment temporarily disabled ; or deep cut if it was to be permanently disabled with as simple a solution as bleach in the oil reservoir .