up a couple more points. I felt pretty sure of them. I
felt as if I were really getting somewhere. And I had a situation which
was ideal for proving my points.

I flipped the intercom key, and spoke to Sara.

"Will you arrange with her foreman for Annie Malasek to come to my
office right now?" I asked. Sara is flippant when things are going along
all right, but she knows when to buckle down and do what she's asked.
She gave me no personal reactions to this request.

Yes, Annie Malasek would be a good one. If anybody in the plant believed
There Are Mysteries, it would be Annie. Further, she was exaggeratedly
loyal to me. She believed I was responsible for turning her little
Jennie, the little girl who'd started all this poltergeist trouble, into
a Good Little Girl. In this instance, I had no qualms about taking
advantage of that loyalty.

* * * * *

While I waited for her I called the lieutenant at his hotel. He was in.
Yes, the Swami was also in. They'd just returned. Yes, the Swami was
ranting and raving about leaving Los Angeles at once. He had said he
absolutely would have nothing more to do with us here at Computer
Research. I told Lieutenant Murphy to scare him with tales of the
secret, underground working of Army Intelligence, to quiet him down. And
I scared the lieutenant a little by pointing out that holding a civilian
against his will without the proper writ was tantamount to kidnapping.
So if the Army didn't want trouble with the Civil Courts, all brought
about because the lieutenant didn't know how to handle his man--

The lieutenant became immediately anxious to cooeperate with me. So then
I soothed him. I told him that, naturally, the Swami was unhappy. He was
used to Swami-ing, and out here he had been stifled, frustrated. What he
needed was some credulous women to catch their breath at his
awe-inspiring insight and gaze with fearful rapture into his eyes. The
lieutenant didn't know where he could find any women like that. I told
him, dryly, that I would furnish some.

Annie was more than cooeperative. Sure, the whole plant was buzzing about
that foreign-looking Swami who had been seen coming in and out of my
office. Sure, a lot of the Girls believed in seances.

"Why? Don't you, Mr. Kennedy?" she asked curiously.

I said I wasn't sure, and she clucked her tongue in sympathy. It must be
terrible not to be sure, so ... well, it must be just terrible. And I
was such a