“Any reasons?” Malone said. The whole idea interested him strangely. It was odd—and he found himself almost liking odd cases, lately. That is, he amended hurriedly, if they didn’t get too odd.
“Oh, they had reasons, all right,” Burris said. “It took a little coaxing, but I managed to pry some loose. You see, every one of them found inefficiency in his own department. And every one knows that other men are investigating inefficiency.”
“Oh,” Malone said.
“That’s right,” Burris said. “Every one of them came to me to get me to prove that the goof-ups in his particular department weren’t his fault. That covers them in case one of the others happens to light into the department.”
“Well, it must be somebody’s fault,” Malone said.
“It isn’t theirs,” Burris said wearily, “I ought to know. They told me. At great length, Malone.”
Malone felt a stab of honest pity. “How many so far?” he asked.
“Six,” Burris said. “Four representatives, and two senators.”
“Only two?” Malone said.
“Well,” Burris said, “the Senate is so much smaller. And, besides, we may get more. As a matter of fact, Senator Lefferts is worth any six representatives all by himself.”