"Your assessment is correct, sir," Hackworth said, a bit hotly. This 
self-vindication left him in the position of having to provide some better 
explanation of the puckered cicatrice running across his buttocks. Actually, he 
didn't have to explain anything—this was an informal luncheon, not a 
police interrogation—but it would not do much for his
already tatterdemalion credibility if he let it pass without comment. As if to 
emphasize this fact, both of the other men were now silent for some time.