He took the can away from his mouth and said, "You want to make me
invisible. You want me to, like, kind of experiment on." His eyes
thinned. "Why pick me?"

The doctor said carefully, "Because you're the common man, the average
man, Mr. Crowley. Before we release this development, we would like to
have some idea of the scope of the effects."

[Illustration]

The beer went down chuck-a-luck. Crowley put the can aside and licked
his bottom lip, then rubbed it with a fingertip. He said slowly, "Now
take it easy while I think about this." He blinked. "Why you could just
walk into a bank and...."

The three were watching him, empty-faced.

"Exactly," Dr. Braun said.

* * * * *

Frederick Braun stared gloomily from the hotel suite's window at the
street below. He peered absently at his thin wrist, looked blank for a
moment, then realized all over again that his watch was being cleaned.
He stared down at the street once more, his wrinkled face unhappy.

The door opened behind him and Patricia O'Gara came in briskly and said,
"No sign of the guinea pig yet, eh?"

"No."

"Where's Rossie?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "There was an item on the newscast. A
humor bit. It seems that the head waiter of the Gourmet.... Have you
ever eaten at the Gourmet, Patricia?"

"Do I look like a millionaire?"

"At any rate, a half pound of the best Caspian caviar disappeared,
spoonful at a time, right before his eyes."

Patricia looked at him. "Good heavens."

"Yes. Well, Ross has gone to pay the tab."

Patricia looked at her watch. "The effects will be wearing off shortly.
Crowley will probably be back at any time. We warned him about returning
to visibility in the middle of some street, completely nude." She sank
into a seat and looked up at the doctor. "I suppose you admit I was
right." Her voice was crisp.

The other turned on her. "And just why do you say that?"

"This caviar bit. Our friend, Donald Crowley, has obviously walked into
the Gourmet restaurant, having heard it was the most expensive in New
York, and ate as much as he could stuff down of the most expensive item
on the menu."

The elderly little doctor pushed his battered horn-rims farther back on
his nose. "Tell me, Patricia, when you made the experiment, did you do
anything ... umah ... anything at all, that saved you some money?"

Uncharacteristically, she suddenly giggled. "I had the time of my life
riding on a bus