Professor Hurley is the head of the English Department at Wordsmith College. After Shade’s death, Professor Hurley circulates a memo around the English Department that claims that Shade’s final poem, “Pale Fire,” has fallen into the hands of a man “unqualified” to edit it, who also happens to have a “deranged mind.” Of course, Professor Hurley is talking about Kinbote (whom the readers already know to be unreliable, which makes Hurley seem credible). Due to Hurley’s credibility, it’s worth believing him when he says that Kinbote’s story about Gradus trying to assassinate the exiled King of Zembla is nonsense—according to Hurley, Shade was shot by an escaped lunatic who mistook Shade for Judge Goldsworth, which is a much more believable story than Kinbote’s.