girl with whose blood Clarens had
written at the scene. "For God's sake, catch me before I kill again."
Well, Thornberry would be happy.

Maryland: Major crimes, but no killers.

New Jersey: The usual list from the waterfronts and the usual wide
variety of manslaughter and homicide.

New York: Dalton, Harry. Let's see, haven't I ... yes. "The Man No
Jail Can Hold." Another special guard.

Pennsylvania:...

The name jumped out. _Rooney, Michael_.

The intercom on his desk buzzed and he flipped the switch. "Go ahead,
Bennington here," he said, and realized only after he had spoken how
the thought of Rooney had made his voice a growl.

"Dr. Thornberry, sir. May I see you?"

"By all means," Bennington said. "The sooner, the better."

* * * * *

Thornberry started talking as soon as he opened the door between the
two offices.

"General, did you see the list of new arrivals? Of all people, Dalton!
And arriving too late to be conditioned!"

Bennington said nothing until the psychologist had seated himself. He
simply watched his chief assistant and tried to find some reason to
like the man.

"What do you mean," he finally said, "too late to be conditioned?"

Having just considered this problem, Bennington's question was a
testing of Thornberry, not a request for information.

Thornberry was looking aggrieved, as if the fact was so obvious even
the general could understand it. "Processing takes all day, sir, and
this group does not arrive until late afternoon."

"Does the processing have to be continuous?" Bennington hoped his
chief assistant would show a little flexibility.

But the question threw the bureaucratic psychologist into mental
dishevelment. "I beg your pardon?"

"All we have to worry about is keeping them quiet tonight, then you
can slip them back to normal in the morning and run them through as if
they had arrived tomorrow."

Thornberry pursed his lips. "But that would mean--"

"A little extra work on the part of very few men," Bennington snapped.
"We'll keep them away from the rest tonight by sleeping them in The
Cage. A couple of men in Supply can move cots and blankets over there
now. Feed them coffee and sandwiches. Call the Mess Hall and get them
made up. At the same time I know you'll find three or four men who
want the overtime for dishing it out.

"How long do you need to know if you can use hypnosis or if you need
drugs, and wouldn't it be simpler