"Why?"
"The Tunpeshans know why we're here. We've dropped enough hints along
those lines. But nobody has mentioned Pendleton; nobody has volunteered
any information about him. And he was an attache here for three
years. Didn't anybody know him during that time? We've let slip a few
discreet statements that we would like to talk to Pendleton's friends,
yet nobody's come around. Apparently, in all the three years he was
here, Pendleton didn't make any friends. And that's a little hard to
believe. It's more likely that his friends have been silenced and any
information about him is being withheld for a reason."
"What reason?"