the one that led
through one high window. _You killed her!_"

"No!"

"Yes!"

* * * * *

Terri brought his quivering hands together and clenched them in his
lap. He stared at the old man. "Who are you?"

"I was a friend of hers. We lived in the same hotel-apartment. She had
no family. I believe you knew that when you hired her."

"I see," said Terri. He drew a long, deep, shuddering breath, and
leaned back in the chair. "So that's the story," he said, his voice
strengthening, "I might have known it. Blackmail. There are always
fools that want to try blackmail."

"No," said the old man. "Not Blackmail, Comptroller. I want your
life."

Terri laughed shortly, contemptuously. "No knowledge that you have can
threaten my life."

"They will come," said the old man, leaning wearily back against his
cushions. "As you said, the Bureau Guards will come; and I think I
shall kill myself when I hear them starting to crack the shield around
this room. They will come in and find you with a dead man. What will
you tell them, Terri?"

"Tell them? Anything I choose. They won't question _me_."

"No. The guards won't. But the Bureau will. How can they raise a man
to the fourth level when there is a two-hour mystery in his
background? They will want to know what you were doing here."

"I was kidnapped," said Terri.

"By whom? Can you prove it? And why?"

"I've been held a prisoner here."

"By a dead man? No, no, Terri. The circumstances are suspicious. You
walk away from the embassy under your own power. You disappear and are
found in a shielded room with a man who has committed suicide. This
must be explained, and in the end you will have to tell them the
truth."

"And what if I do?" said Terri, truculently.

"But the truth is so fantastic, Terri. So uncheckable. I am dead, and
I am the only one who could have supported your story. These people
who were here when you came in are common actors. They have no idea
why I wanted you decoyed here. These are my rooms. And there is no
obvious connection between me and the dead Kilaren. And perhaps I will
decide to live just long enough to denounce you as a traitor when they
enter."

Ashen-faced, Terri stared.

"The Bureau will have to question you. They will clamp a block on your
mind so that you can't operate the reflex that stops your heart. And
they will question you over and over again, because the Bureau cannot
afford to take chances. Y