Crane dropped the paper and got up from the desk. That son-of-a-bitch Taber was to blame for this. Shaping up a goddamn hoax and feeding it out piecemeal. By God—!
He went to the desk and dialed, and when the answer came he said, "Halliday? Senator Crane here. I want to have a little talk with you about that damned tape. It's pretty obvious now that Taber planted it in a deliberate attempt to ... What's that? An appointment! Why, goddamn it, who the hell do you think you are?.... Fifteen minutes next Wednesday? You're talking to a United States Senator—"
But Crane was no longer talking to Halliday. He had hung up.
Crane dialed another number. A pleasant female voice said, "Matthew Porter's office."
"This is Senator Crane. Put Porter on."
"Just a moment."
Crane waited. He waited for what seemed like ages, but a glance at his watch told him it had been less than five minutes. He disconnected and dialed again.
"This is Crane. We got cut off. I want to talk to Porter."
"I'm sorry but Mr. Porter has gone for the day."
"Well, where can I reach him? It's important."