I gave her a synopsis of Taryn Sizemore’s tale about Morley Shine breaking into her psychiatrist’s office and stealing enough personal data to blow her lawsuit out of the water. I didn’t go into detail about the facts themselves, just the manner in which Morley acquired them. “Is the story true?”

Ruthie held up a hand. “Gospel. Morley confessed to Pete one night when he was in his cups. He considered it a coup, and Pete said he was positively gleeful about it, chortling on at length. He compared the break-in to Watergate, only without the political fallout. Ha. Ha. Ha. What a card our Morley was.”

“Did Ruffner know what Morley did?”

“He made a point of not probing too deeply. He was happy to have the leverage and didn’t much care how it fell into his hands. Pete was horrified, of course, though he didn’t let Morley know how upset he was. I urged him to tell Ben, but Pete was unsure and he agonized for weeks.”

“What was the debate?”

“He knew he was skating on thin ice. Ben and Morley had been partners for fifteen years and fast friends for years before that. Pete was low man on the totem pole and hardly a pal to either one. He was well-trained—Ben made sure of that—but he didn’t have the social skills to pick up jobs on his own. They’d parcel out the odd assignments, but he was there on sufferance, especially where Ben was concerned. Pete and Morley got along okay, until this came up.”

“So in the end, he decided to tell Ben.”

“For better or for worse. You know what a stickler Ben was for the rules. What Morley did was a criminal offense, which put Ben in jeopardy and the agency at risk. But what bothered Pete as much as anything was the effect on the woman who filed the suit. Ned’s attorney presented her as a gold digger out for as much as she could get. His problem was he didn’t have anything to use against her in court. Then Morley provided Ruffner with all the ammunition he needed. Meanwhile, Pete came to believe Ned Lowe was dangerous and Byrd-Shine, in essence, had given him carte blanche.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I just did.”

“Before now. Why haven’t you ever said anything?”

“You worked for the agency. I assumed you knew. I’m surprised Ben didn’t take you into his confidence.”

“Not a word. It must have come close to the end of my tenure with them. I’m guessing Ben was too appalled to admit Morley’s breach. By the time the agency broke up, I was out in an office of my own. There weren’t any rumors around town about why they broke up.”

“Weird, since that’s all Pete and I talked about. He ended up the bad guy, and that bewildered him. He hadn’t done anything, you know? Morley broke the law and Pete took the blame. I’m sure if you and I had known each other back then, we’d have chewed the subject to death.”