“I know nothing whatever about it.”
“It’s a damned lie. If you believe it, you are disqualified for what I want you to do.”
“I have no basis for belief or disbelief. I don’t try to abolish reality by shutting my eyes, nor do I gobble garbage. As a citizen, I like your methods and approve your policies. I am a professional detective, and if I take a job I work at it. What do you want me to do?”
“You did a brilliant piece of work on the Wetzler case.”
“Thank you, sir. What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to find out who murdered Noel Hawthorne.”
“Indeed.” Wolfe heaved a sigh. I looked across at June and saw that her fingers were twisted tight in her lap as she gazed across at her husband. Dunn, standing in front of Wolfe, scowled down at him.
“My career is ruined anyhow,” he declared. “My wife’s too, for it has been as much hers as mine. I’ll probably have to resign within a month. I’ll clear it up some day, the question of how the Cullen office got that advance information. My brother-in-law claimed he didn’t know. I’ll do that before I die, in spite of the intrigue and obscurities and obstacles. But the first thing to clear up is this murder.” Dunn clenched his fists. “By God, I won’t leave Washington with this on my shoulders too.”
Wolfe grunted. “Miss May Hawthorne seems to think that your political opponents are deliberately using Hawthorne’s death as a lever to pry you out. Do you?”
“I don’t know. I make no such charge. But I do know that if the murder is not solved I’ll never crawl out of the mire, either before my death or after, and I don’t think they’ll solve it. I don’t believe they will.” Dunn’s fists closed again. “I suppose this Argentina thing has worn my nerves thin and they’re ready to snap, but I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. People who sit at the same table with me at a cabinet meeting will help tear my scalp off. Am I going to trust my life — more than my life — to a Rockland County district attorney or a slick rabble-rouser like Bill Skinner? I am not! There’s not a soul in Washington that I can trust who is in a position to help me in a thing like this. And people don’t like to help a man who is supposed to be going down for the third time, not even when — especially when — he occupies a position like mine. I need you, Mr. Wolfe. I want you to find out who killed Hawthorne.”