"It was an understandable error, Sir," Bumble mumbled. "Any FBI operative could have made the same mistake."

"I should think that highly unlikely. You, Bumble, and you alone are uniquely gifted in your ability to bungle every task you are assigned. I suggest you explain how this latest monumental screw-up came about."

"Yes, Sir. Well, we received a tip..."

"Who is 'we'?"

"I did, Sir."

"And from whom did this tip come?"

"I'm not sure."

"You're not sure."

"No, Sir. You see it was an anonymous tip that arrived in my mail, saying that Mrs. Harris was a Russian double agent."

"And you didn't think it necessary to find out from whence this tip came?"

"It was on my 'to do' list."

"On your 'to do' list."

"Yes, Sir. But I thought there was a degree of urgency, so I took a team to Mrs. Harris's home."

"And what did you find, Bumble?"

"A coded message, Sir."

"And how did Mrs. Harris react, when you found this coded message."

"She laughed, Sir."

"She laughed."

"Yes, Sir. So we took her in, for questioning."

"Did it occur to you to try to crack this famous code before you arrested Mrs. Harris?"

"She might have done a bunk...um, she might have escaped, Sir."

"Right. And then what?"

"I gave the code to the correct department, Sir."

"And did they crack it?"

"Not for several days, Sir."

"And, meanwhile, you questioned Mrs. Harris?"

"Yes, but she kept laughing at us, Sir."

"She was still laughing?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well she isn't laughing any more...Aand neither is her husband, Bumble!"

"No, Sir."

"It didn't occur to you that you had arrested the wife of the deputy head of the CIA?"

"No, Sir. Because of the coded message, Sir."

"And what did the coded message turn out to be, Bumble."

"A grocery list, Sir.

"A grocery list. It turned out to be a grocery list that Mrs. Harris had written in Pittman shorthand that she'd learned years ago at secretarial school and now we are being sued by the CIA and you are fired, Bumble—you are fired!"

"Sir, Sir, I think the CIA sent that tip to make the FBI look stupid..."

"And how well it worked. Get Out!"