“Me too.” I reach for his cigarettes and light one for myself. “But you know, there’s a grain of truth there. For example, I personally knew at least one Communist working for the US government. The foreign diplomatic service. He was stationed at embassies around the world. And I can’t say for certain he wasn’t passing on information to the Soviets, all that time.”

The funny thing is, Herbert makes no sign of surprise whatsoever. He just asks, “How do you know this fellow?”

“Met him when I was in Rome.”

“How do you know he’s still a Communist? A lot of us were Communists.”

“Herbert! You don’t say!”

He shrugs in his lopsided way. “Seemed like the humane way forward. Came to my senses when I saw what that goddamn thug Stalin was up to.”

“Well, this fellow’s different. He’s a true believer. He’ll rationalize anything.” I pause to inhale. “He’s also married to my sister.”

Herbert tries to purse his lips for a whistle. Doesn’t quite succeed. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Because I’m not a snitch, Herbert, for all my many faults. I make no windows into men’s souls, as a wise woman said before me, and anyway he’s my brother-in-law, for God’s sake.”

“So what gives now?” Herbert asks. “Maybe something to do with Sumner Fox walking through my office yesterday?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Walls made of glass, my dear.” He waves his hand. “And you can’t mistake Sumner Fox, not if you’re a Yale man.”

“Well, I’m not a Yale man, nor yet a football lunatic. I never could see the point of grown men smashing each other up on a grass field for no good reason. But I do pay attention when the FBI wants to ask me a question or two about my sister.”

“You need a lawyer?”

“Don’t worry, the family’s lousy with them. I was just thinking about the Rosenbergs.”

Herbert makes another noise. “Fixed trial if I ever saw one.”

“Well, maybe it was. But there must be a whole stack of evidence they couldn’t reveal in a public court of law, because it’s top secret. That just stands to reason. And you can’t deny the Soviets exploded an atom bomb in—what was it, ’49?—anyway, long before anyone expected they could. You can’t tell me there weren’t scientists leaking information, probably a whole network of them, whether the Rosenbergs were in it or not. The thing is, most of those traitors probably didn’t consider themselves traitors at all. Just smart, well-meaning men like my brother-in-law, who thought they were doing the world a favor by bringing forward the great Communist revolution.”

Herbert stubs out his cigarette and folds his arms at me. “So what’s your point, doll?”