| abstract | - Peter S. Joyce is a Supervisory Special Agent with the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a first-line supervisor, Joyce is Special Agent Pendergast's direct superior, and has on several occasions run interference for Pendergast's unconventional methods due mainly to their effectiveness, and in no small part to Joyce's own dissatisfaction with the FBI's "fondness for bureaucracy." He has cited an extremely complimentary appraisal from Mike Decker, whom he held in high regard, in Pendergast's personnel file as a reason for defending Pendergast when others have called for disciplinary actions. Joyce is an avid boater, and owns a thirty-two-foot sloop christened Burden of Proof. During the investigation of the Hotel Killer, the New York Police Department informed the FBI that the Hotel Killer was, in fact, Pendergast's son, Alban—information Pendergast had only confided to his close friend, Vincent D'Agosta. Furious that Pendergast would withhold such crucial information, Joyce petitioned the Office of the Special Agent in Charge in New York to have Pendergast fired, but was rebuffed. Undeterred, he resubmitted his report to the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, who were known for conducting lengthy, grueling internal investigations; instead, he received a response within the hour that Pendergast's punishment was to be thirty days off the street without pay. Exasperated, Joyce had little choice but to inform Pendergast of his light sentence, warning him to stay far away from the Hotel Killer case while marveling at Pendergast's mysterious "guardian angel" within the Bureau.
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