Malone thought of Senator Lefferts, who was also suffering from delusions of persecution—delusions that had real evidence to back them up. "It does sound funny," he said cautiously.
"Well, I reported everything to Burris," Boyd went on. "And he said you were working on something similar, and we might as well pool our resources."
"Here we go again," Malone said. He took a deep breath, filling his nostrils with what remained of the cigar odor in the room, and felt more peaceful. Quickly, he told Boyd about what had been happening in Congress. "It seems pretty obvious," he finished, "that there is some kind of a tie-up between the two cases."
"Maybe it's obvious," Boyd said, "But it is just a little bit odd. Fun and games. You know, Ken, Burris was right."
"How?" Malone said.
"He said everything was all mixed up," Boyd went on. "He told me the country was going to Rome in a handbasket, or something like that."
Wondering vaguely if Burris had really been predicting mass religious conversions, Malone nodded silently.
"And he's right," Boyd said. "Look at the newspapers. Everything's screwy lately."
"Everything always is screwy," Malone said.
"Not like now," Boyd said. "So many big-shot gangsters have been killed lately we might as well bring back Prohibition. And the labor unions are so busy with internal battles that they haven't had time to go on strike for over a year."