Mal turned and saw Dudley holding a stack of photographs; Rolff finished typing a paragraph and looked up. Dudley pushed a snapshot in his face; Rolff said, “No,” calmly. Mal walked around the table and scoped the picture close up.
It was fuzzy black and white, a teenage girl naked with her legs spread. Dudley read from the flip side. “To Lenny. You were the best. Love from Maggie at Minnie Robert’s Casbah, January 19, 1946.”
Mal held his breath; Rolff stood, gave Dudley an eye-to-eye deadpan and a steady voice. “No. My wife and I have forgiven each other our minor indiscretions. Do you think I would leave the pictures in my desk, otherwise? No. Thief. Fascist parasite. Irish pig.”
Dudley tossed the photos on the grass; Mal shot him the no hitting sign; Rolff cleared his throat and spat in Dudley’s face. Mal gasped; Dudley smiled, grabbed a manuscript sheet and wiped the spittle off. “Yes, because fair Judith does not know about fair Sarah and the clap you gave her, and I just played a hunch on where you took your cure. Terry Lux keeps meticulous records, and he has promised to cooperate with me should you decide not to.”
Rolff, still voice steady. “Who told you?”
Dudley, making motions: verbatim transcription. “Reynolds Loftis, under much less duress than you were just subjected to.”
Mal thought through the gamble: if Rolff approached Loftis, all their covert questionings were compromised; the UAES might put the kibosh on new members–terrified of infiltration, blowing Danny Upshaw’s approach. He got out pen and pad, grabbed a chair and sat down; Dudley called his own bluff. “Yes or no, Mr. Rolff. Give me your answer.”
Veins pulsed all over Leonard Rolff’s face. He said, “Yes.”
Dudley said, “Grand”; Mal wrote L. Rolff, 1/8/50 at the top of a clean sheet. Their interrogee squared his glasses. “Open court testimony?”
Mal took the cue. “Most likely deposition. We’ll start with–”
Dudley, his voice raised for the first time. “Let me have this witness, counselor. Would you mind?”
Mal shook his head and turned his chair around, steno pad braced on the top slat. Dudley said, “You know why we’re here, so let’s get to it. Communist influence in the motion picture business. Names, dates, places and seditious words spoken. Since I’m sure he’s much on your mind, we’ll start with Reynolds Loftis. Have you ever heard him advocate the armed overthrow of the United States government?”
“No, but–”
“Feel free to volunteer information, unless I state otherwise. Have you some grand tidbits on Loftis?”
Rolff’s tone seethed. “He tailored his policeman roles to make the police look bad. He said he was doing his part to undermine the American system of jurisprudence.” A pause, then, “If I testify in court, will he get the chance to tell about Sarah and me?”
Mal answered, half truth/half lies. “It’s very unlikely he’ll stand as a witness, and if he tries to volunteer that information the judge won’t let him get two seconds in. You’re covered.”
“But outside of court–”
Dudley said, “Outside of court you’re on your own, and you’ll have to rely on the fact that repeating the story makes Loftis appear loathsome.”
Rolff said, “If Loftis told you that, then he must have been cooperative in general. Why do you need information to use against him?”
Dudley, not missing a trick. “Loftis informed on you months ago, when we thought our investigation was going to be centered outside the UAES. Frankly, what with the recent labor troubles, the UAES presents a much nicer target. And frankly, you and the others were too ineffectual to bother with.”
Mal looked over and saw that Rolff bought it: his squared shoulders had relaxed and his hands had quit clenching. His follow-up question was dead on target: “How do I know you won’t do the same thing with me?”
Mal said, “This grand jury is officially on, and you’ll be given immunity from prosecution, something we never offered Loftis. What Lieutenant Smith said about the labor trouble is true. It’s now or never, and we’re here to make hay now.”
Rolff stared at him. “You acknowledge your opportunism so openly that it gives you an awful credibility.”