“No, goddammit!” exploded Dirk. “Let’s not drop it. I want to talk to Marcus about it, now.”

So we marched off to see the bureau chief, Dirk steaming like a locomotive with too much coal in the firebox. Unfortunately, Marcus was in, sitting on his couch reading the Post and the Times.

“We need to talk about some stuff!” said Dirk. His face was red.

“Not now,” said Marcus. “Talk to my secretary. She’ll set up an appointment.” He looked at me as if to say: What is this all about? I didn’t respond. I had resolved to keep my mouth shut; there was so much just then I didn’t want to talk about. But Dirk was determined to make a scene.

“Excuse me, but I don’t think it can wait! I waited while Eric was doing his reporting on the Abelard piece, and I waited when he went up to the Capitol to see Abelard. But I can’t wait anymore. I have to tell you that I think what happened stinks.”

“Thanks for your opinion, George,” said Marcus. His eyes were shooting daggers, but George didn’t see or didn’t care.

“What are your values, Marcus? We’re judging politicians by ethical standards we’d never apply to ourselves. How many people in this bureau take some kind of medication? Why don’t you fire them! Why don’t you include a note at the end of each article stating whether it was written under the influence of Prozac or Valium? We are such fucking hypocrites! No wonder everyone hates us.”

It was a classic Dirk performance, and it was particularly ill-timed. As the tornado blew out of the office, it was obvious that my friend had not helped his career.

When I returned from lunch, the light on my phone registered a voicemail message. The voice in question was cheery, sprightly, elflike. I had suspected I might not hear from him again, but, no, I had been wrong. “Journalistissimo!” said the voice. “Most journalistic one. I’m leaving on another taxpayer-financed adventure, but I haven’t forgotten you. Check your mailbox tonight.”

Waiting for me at home was another letter. Rupert had written this one in the form of a newspaper article:

By Brother John of Ragusa

New York Mirror Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—A pending multibillion-dollar business deal in Asia could provide new evidence of the anti-American sympathies of Arthur Bowman, the senior diplomatic correspondent of The New York Mirror, according to intelligence sources.

The intelligence sources urged careful examination of Bowman’s commentary on a $30 billion communications contract to be awarded next month by the Chinese government. The main competitors for the giant contract are France and the United States.