“I suppose, due to the secret nature of the session, that you are unable to tell me what thought or deed on my part led to this testimony?”

“It was not so much testimony as conversation.”

“Gossip, perhaps?”

“Perhaps, but members tend, when in session, anyway, to rely on fairly solid sources for their assertions. May I buy you some lunch?”

“Thank you, yes.”

Salton raised a finger, and a headwaiter materialized beside him and led them to a discreet table shaded by a potted ficus tree. They glanced at a menu and both ordered the haddock and a glass of Chardonnay.

“Can you characterize the nature of the gossip without endangering the safety of the nation?” Stone asked after the waiter had left with their order.

“I think about all I can say is that some present were of the opinion that you might be harboring a fugitive.”

“A fugitive from what?”

“Justice, apparently.”

“I have a roomy house and often have guests, but I can’t recall any one of them who might attract the attention of the law.”

“Perhaps I should have said ‘natural justice.’ Think British.”

“I have recently had a guest who had something to fear from what one might conceivably call vigilante justice,” Stone said.

“And on what was his fear based?”

“Two previous attempts to render him, ah, irrelevant.”

“Ah, yes, irrelevance is a nasty state.”

“I find it impossible to imagine why any member of your committee might find his presence in my home to be antithetical to my country’s interests.”

“May I ask how he came to be in your home?”

“He was there at the request of two government officials.”

“Was one of them ours?”

“Yes.”

“Legislative, judicial, or executive?”

“Executive.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me who?”

“I would, reluctantly, if I was subpoenaed by your committee and placed under oath.”

“You wouldn’t take the Fifth?”

“I would have no fear of self-incrimination.”

“An invitation to testify may not be so far from possible as you might imagine.”

“I am at the committee’s disposal.”

“Can you not tell me anything that might reassure me enough for me to reassure my members?”

“I believe I’ve already told you that much.”

“The members are fond of the explicit.”

“Then they should exercise their power to elicit explicit answers.”

“I’ve heard you are a very good lawyer, and now I believe it.”

“It’s easy to be a good lawyer when your heart is pure.”

Salton laughed. “I think it would be very entertaining to see you before my committee.”

Stone laughed, too. “Is there anything I can say that might assuage the fears of your members?”

“You could say that neither of the government officials in question was our president.”

“It was not. There, does that make you feel better?”

“Much, thank you.”

Their lunch arrived, and they ate it with gusto, conversing on other subjects.

Chapter 34