ders. It is possible that Garbitsch
committed murders. But I do not think so."

"Why not?" Boyd said.

"They are my friends," Brubitsch said. "Even if they tell lies. They
are also small children. Besides, I am not even the head of the
group."

"Who is?" Malone said.

"Garbitsch," Brubitsch said instantly. "He worked in the State
Department, and he told us what to look for in the Senate Office
Building."

"What were you supposed to look for?" Boyd said.

"For information," Brubitsch said. "For scraps of paper, or things we
overheard. But it was very bad, very bad."

"What do you mean, bad?" Malone said.

"Everything was terrible," Brubitsch said mournfully. "Sometimes
Borbitsch heard something and forgot to tell Garbitsch about it.
Garbitsch did not like this. He is a very inflamed person. Once he
threatened to send Borbitsch to the island of Yap as a spy. That is a
very bad place to go to. There are no enjoyments on the island of Yap,
and no one likes strangers there."

"What did you do with your information?" Boyd said.

"We remembered it," Brubitsch said. "Or, if we had a scrap of paper,
we saved it for Garbitsch and gave it to him. But I remember once that
I had some paper. It had a formula on it. I do not know what the
formula said."

"What was it about?" Malone said.

Brubitsch gave a massive shrug. "It was about an X and some numbers,"
he said. "It was not very interesting, but it was a formula, and
Garbitsch would have liked it. Unfortunately, I did not give it to
him."

"Why not?" Boyd said.

"I am ashamed," Brubitsch said, looking ashamed. "I was lighting a
cigarette in the afternoon, when I had the formula. It is a very
relaxing thing to smoke a cigarette in the afternoon. It is soothing
to the soul." He looked very sad. "I was holding the piece of paper in
one hand," he said. "Unfortunately, the match and the paper came into
contact. I burned my finger. Here." He stuck out a finger toward
Malone and Boyd, who looked at it without much interest for a second.
"The paper is gone," he said. "Don't tell Garbitsch. He is very
inflamed."

Malone sighed. "But you remember the formula," he said. "Don't you?"

Brubitsch shook his massive head very slowly. "It was not very
interesting," he said. "And I do not have a mathematical mind."

"We know," Malone said, "You are a small child."

* * * * *

"It was terrible," Brubitsch said. "Garbitsch was not happy about