were built into the safe itself. Not even a
borazon drill could make much of an impression on a metal which had been
formed under millions of atmospheres of pressure.

And yet the Nipe had taken that door out in a second, without much
effort at all.

The crowd that had gathered at the scene of the crime had not been
large. The very thought of the Nipe kept people away from places where
he was known to have been. The specter of the Nipe evoked a fear, a
primitive fear--fear of the dark and fear of the unknown--combined with
the rational fear of a very real, very tangible danger.

And yet, there _had_ been a crowd of onlookers. In spite of their fear,
it is hard to keep human beings from being curious. It was known that
the Nipe didn't stay around after he had struck, and, besides, the area
was now full of armed men. So the curious came to look and to stare in
revulsion at the neat pile of gnawed and bloody bones that had been the
night watchman, carefully killed and eaten by the Nipe before he had
opened the vault.

_Thus curiosity does make fools of us all, and the native hue of caution
is crimsoned o'er by the bright red of morbid fascination._

Stanton went through the door of the automatic restaurant and walked
over to the vending wall. The big dining room was only about three
quarters full of people, and there were plenty of seats available. He
fed coins into the proper slots, took his sandwich and milk over to a
seat in one corner and made himself comfortable.

He flipped open the newspaper and looked at the front page.

And, for a moment, his brain seemed to freeze.

The story itself was straightforward enough:

BENCHAIM KIDNAPPERS NABBED!

STAN MARTIN DOES IT AGAIN!

CERES, June 3 (_Interplanetary News Service_)--The three men and
three women who allegedly kidnapped 10-year-old Shmuel BenChaim were
brought to justice today through the single-handed efforts of
Stanley Martin, famed investigator for Lloyd's of London. The boy,
held prisoner for more than ten weeks on a small planetoid, was
reported in good health.

According to Lt. John Vale of the Planetoid Police, the kidnap gang
could not have been taken by direct assault on their hideout because
of fear that the boy might be killed.

"The operation required a carefully planned one-man infiltration of
their hideout," Lt. Vale said. "Mr. Martin was the man for the job."

Labeled "the most o