The guard waved a wand up and down his body. It screeched when it passed a jacket pocket.

“Empty it, please.”

He handed the guard a cassette player. The guard pushed the play button. The machine whirred.

The guard returned the tape recorder. Another lock clicked open. He left the booth, entered the White House grounds, and headed toward the West Wing. His left arm twitched. Stop it, he muttered under his breath. Give me half-an-hour.

The pressroom in the West Wing was filling with reporters. He moved past the technicians working on the lines for the television lights. No one noticed him. Sandlin was new to the assignment; he worked for a small regional wire service. He was not the type to draw much attention from the rest of the press corps.

He asked a cameraman for directions and found the steps to the basement. He walked into the men’s bathroom. It was empty. In one of the stalls, he sat on the toilet. Strapped to his leg was a plastic composite .45 caliber gun. He ripped off the tape and placed the weapon in his lap. With a dime, he loosened the screws on the back of the tape recorder. He removed two bullets and the metal firing pin for the pistol. He inserted the piece into the gun and loaded the Kevlar-coated bullets. He put the gun in his coat pocket. Before he stood up, he noisily grabbed several sheets of toilet paper, wrapped them into a ball, dropped the wad into the toilet, and flushed. He washed his hands and returned to the main room.

All the seats in the first few rows of the pressroom were occupied. He pushed his way to an open spot in the middle of the ninth row. Never get too close, he once had been instructed. In one hand, he held a notebook. He took off the hat and placed it beneath his seat.

“Two minutes,” said a voice over the intercom.

Technicians hurried to their places. The lights went on. Television reporters stood with their backs to the podium, providing live introductions to their networks.

“In his weekly press conference, we expect the President will be asked questions about the China treaty, a possible Cabinet shuffle, and the use of the White House mess by a Hanover fund-raiser,” a reporter was saying into a camera.

This room’s much smaller than it appears on TV, he thought. Several aides entered the room. They passed out the written statement the President intended to read before taking questions. Five Secret Service agents positioned themselves near the platform, behind which hung a blue curtain bearing the White House emblem. He reached into his pocket.

Downstairs, in a room with no windows, Addis picked up the remote and turned on the television.