Dunne knew Grayton well. In his late forties, Grayton was a riser in the security establishment. The FBI director, a former senator, cared more for tennis and Georgetown parties than briefings and task forces. So Grayton got to call the shots. Last year, Grayton had organized a special interagency SWAT team to counter threats against government targets. When a few skeptical House members raised questions about its budget, a story suddenly appeared in the Washington Post: “New Unit Thwarts Drug Cartel Bomb Plot in D.C.” The source was obvious: Grayton. His outfit won an extra $13 million from Congress. Slick, smooth, he played the game well. He was ever up-to-date on current developments in the security world: computers, advance weapon technology, the latest in terrorism neutralization. In various meetings, Dunne had watched Grayton hail one “new era” after another—in interagency cooperation, in internal communications, in international liaison. Dozens of times, Dunne had heard Grayton mouth the motto, “Drive the change; don’t be pushed by it.” He knew the younger agents mocked Grayton’s can-do-ism: Dry the rain; don’t be sussed by it.

Dunne stood up. Grayton was taller. He had electric blue eyes, jet black hair combed straight back, and utterly straight teeth. He spoke in bursts, as if his words were coming out of a teletype.

“Listen, Jake,” Dunne said. “We fucked up, and I want to know how that happened. You’re looking to solve a case. But we also need to figure out what went wrong security-wise. So I’d like to know what she can tell us about her husband.”

Dunne knew he was bullshitting. This wasn’t about security. It was about finding a way in.

“Listen, my friend,” Grayton said, “in the prelim, a very upset Mrs. Sandlin told us she doesn’t know where the fuck her husband is anyway. So why do you want to go over to J. Edgar and sit in on the three-oh-two?”

Grayton glanced at a photograph on the wall that showed Dunne, as a young man, being sworn in as a police officer in Atlanta.

“Because that’s all there is right now.”