hief," Burris murmured.

"Another five minutes," Malone said in a sudden rage, "and I won't
even call you."

"Malone!" Burris said.

Malone swallowed hard. "Sorry," he said at last. "But isn't it just
barely possible that these three spies aren't the real criminals?
Suppose you were a spy."

"All right," Burris said. "I'm a spy." Something in his tone made
Malone look at him with a sudden suspicion. Burris, he thought, was
humoring him.

Is it possible, Malone asked himself, that _I_ am the one who is as a
little child?

Little children, he told himself with decision, do not capture Russian
spies and then argue about it. They go home, eat supper and go to bed.

* * * * *

He stopped thinking about sleep in a hurry, and got back to the
business at hand. "If you were a spy," he said, "and you knew that a
lot of other spies had been arrested and charged with the crimes you
were committing, what would you do?"

Burris appeared to think deeply. "I would celebrate," he said at last,
in a judicious tone.

"I mean, would you just go on with the same crimes?" Malone said.

"What are you talking about, Malone?" Burris said cautiously.

"If you knew we'd arrested Brubitsch, Borbitsch and Garbitsch," Malone
went on doggedly, "you'd lay off for a while, just to make us think
we'd caught the right men. Doesn't that make sense?"

"Of course it makes sense," Burris said in what was almost a pitying
tone. "But don't push it too far. Malone, I want you to know
something."

Malone sighed. "Yes, sir?" he said.

"Contrary to popular opinion," Burris said, "I was not appointed
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation just because I own a
Hoover vacuum cleaner."

"Of course not," Malone said, feeling that something of the sort was
called for.

"And I think you ought to know by now," Burris went on, "that I
wouldn't fall for a trick like that any more than you would. There are
obviously more members in this spy ring. Brubitsch, Borbitsch and
Garbitsch are just a start."

"Well, then--" Malone began.

"_I'm_ not going to be taken in by what these three say," Burris said.
"But now, Malone, we know what to look for. All we have to do is
pretend to be taken in. Get it?"

"Sure," Malone said. "We pretend to be taken in. And in the meantime I
can go on looking for--"

"We don't have to look for anything," Burris said calmly.

Malone took a deep breath. Somehow, he told himself, thi