to expunge her parking tickets. “One minute,” Talbott had snapped, “hang up!” As one last mocking gibe Walter had asked, “Senator, when is grouse hunting season?” His voice reedy with stress, the senator had asked, “This year?” “This year,” Walter had confirmed. “It begins one day after the onset of World War III,” had said the senator, adding, “sir.” Only then, with the test complete, with Talbott glaring bullets at him, taking his own sweet time, did Walter hang up.
