ed at the instant of legal time. But then no ransom letter
came; no evidence of the crime of kidnapping. This did not close the
case; there were other cases on record where a child was stolen by adults
for purposes other than ransom. It was not very likely that a child of
six would be stolen by a neurotic adult to replace a lost infant, and
Paul Brennan was personally convinced that James Holden had enough
self-reliance to make such a kidnap attempt fail rather early in the
game. He could hardly say so, nor could he suggest that James had indeed
run away deliberately and skilfully, and with planned steps worthy of a
much older person. He could only hint and urge the F.B.I. into any action
that he could coerce them into taking; he did not care how or who brought
James back just so long as the child was returned to his custody.

Then as the days wore into weeks with no sign, the files were placed
in the inactive drawer. Paul Brennan made contact with a few private
agencies.

He was stopped here, again, by another angle. The Holdens were by no
means wealthy. Brennan could not justify the offer of some reward so
large that people simply could not turn down the slim chance of
collecting. If the missing one is heir to a couple of million dollars,
the trustees can justify a reward of a good many thousand dollars for his
return. The amount that Brennan was prepared to offer could not compel
the services of a private agency on a full-time basis. The best and the
most interested of the agencies took the case on a contingent basis; if
something turned their way in the due course of their work they'd
immediately take steps. Solving the case of a complete disappearance on
the part of a child who virtually vanished into thin air would be good
advertising, but their advertising budget would not allow them to put one
man on the case without the first shred of evidence to point the way.

If Paul Brennan had been above-board, he could have evoked a lot of
interest. The search for a six-year-old boy with the educational
development of a youth of about eighteen, informed through the services
of an electromechanical device, would have fired public interest,
Government intervention, and would also have justified Paul Brennan's
depth of interest. But Paul Brennan could say nothing about the excellent
training, he could only hint at James Holden's mental proficiency which
was backed up by the boy's school record. As it was, Paul Brennan's
mo