I looked again at the dead duty officer against the wall.

He asked to speak to the duty officer for China.

Then pass the word along to the duty officer in Washington.

He called at night and spoke to the duty officer.

"I got the word from a duty officer who said that Mike's been taken off the case and can't talk about it."

The duty officer was waiting for him in the lobby.

The duty officer made a move as if to intervene.

He went inside after them and was greeted by the duty officer.

The duty officer, they found, was a major, perhaps thirty years of age.

At the mission security desk, the duty officer held up a phone.