he important question had always been whether Lefty and the
others were psis. If so, they might be on the level about my psi
powers--which meant I was right back being a snake again. And if
they weren't, it was a simple case of blackmail, which at least
let me rejoin the human race. On that basis, I was in tough
shape. Occam's razor has no answer for hallucinations. Either
you've had them or you hadn't. I had. Nobody would change my mind
on that score. That made Snead, and presumably Lefty, a psi. And
me, too.

But--what if they were mistaken? Shari's tests looked conclusive
to me. I saw that as the only way out. I had to insist on a test
in their presence. And that meant I had to get in touch with
Wally Bupp.

My kibitzer came stalking out of the building, gangling and
gawky. "Didn't mean to spoil your luck, neighbor," he said.

"Don't give it a second thought, Snead," I said.

"Call me Mortimer," he said. "You mind a word of advice,
neighbor?" he asked, bobbing his head around and grinning in a
self-conscious way. "Next time, bet that fourteen. Highest card
in the deck. Beats all the others!"

"You lousy snake!" I gasped. I'd learned better than to take a
poke at him. Lefty had taught me my lesson on that one. Snead
might turn out to be a TK as well as a hallucinator, and I wanted
no more heart attacks.

He handed me a card. "There'll be somebody at this number all
night, neighbor. Gamblers Anonymous."

He faded off down the dark street. The card merely said:

"Manhattan Chapter NO 5-5600"

* * * * *

Shari must have had a swell time at dinner with some guy who
didn't gamble, because she didn't come home until nearly
midnight. I know because I dialed her apartment every ten minutes
until I got her face on the screen.

She was still dressed for dinner and had a sort of tiara over her
thick tresses. "What is it?" she said.

"I'm not a psi?" I demanded.

"No!" she said. "Hasn't this gone--?"

"Well, then, am I crazy?" I cut in on her.

Her lips compressed. "It's a lot more likely," she decided.
"Why?"

"Either I'm nuts," I told her. "Or those characters really are
psis." She was reaching up to cut the image when I caught her
interest. "Is there such a thing as a psi who can induce
hallucinations?" I demanded.

"No." Flatly.

"They've got me sold that they can do it," I said. "What does
Occam's razor say about that?"

"You idiot!" she exploded. "They don't believ