"Now hang on a minute," Ballantyne cut in. "Let's sort out who knows what. You know of some allegations against Bugalugs, and I know what you told me. I know some other things as well, but you don't know what George told me. Or if you do, you didn't hear it from me."
"Right."
"And this journo knows some stuff because it turned up in an envelope from, I guess, an anonymous source. He told you at least some of it when he asked you to comment on it."
"True."
"But I don't know what he told you. Because I wasn't listening to the call, was I? So he might have got this stuff from George. But I won't know that until someone tells me what was in the envelope, will I? Seems awfully like you're jumping to conclusions."
"Difficult not to, the way things have unfolded."
"Really?"
It's difficult to see a raised eyebrow over the phone, but Ballantyne's vocal tone evinced a degree of apparent surprise.