oner Fernack has called twice this morning already,"
he said. "He's screaming about all the burglaries that have been
occurring since midnight last night."

"Oh," Dorothea said. "You mean the Spooks? Mike and the others?
They've been stealing again?"

"They sure have, Miss Fueyo," Boyd said.

"I guess they're furnishing their new hideout," Malone said. "Wherever
it is. Only God knows."

"And even if He told us," Boyd said, "it wouldn't do us any good.
Chase 'em out of there, and they'd go somewhere else."

Malone stood up, fished for his cigarettes and lit one. "What we
need," he said, blowing out smoke, "is some way to trap 'em and hold
'em. And I don't see how we can do either."

"After last night," Dorothea said, "I really don't see--"

"Wait a minute," Boyd said. "You said _trap_, didn't you?" He looked
slowly and speculatively at Dorothea Fueyo.

A second passed.

"Oh, no, you don't!" she said. "Oh, no. Not on your life. I'll help
catch him if I can, because I know you don't mean to hurt him or the
others. But I wouldn't want Mike to know about it. You're not using me
as bait in any trap."

Boyd looked at Malone, shook his head slowly, and said disconsolately,
"Well, it was an idea." He returned his gaze to the floor.

The furtive gleam of the half bottle of bourbon on Malone's dresser
caught his eye. He'd had it sent up the night before, feeling the need
of some medicinal refreshment. Now it winked at him. He ignored it
resolutely. "Dorothea," he said.

"Yes?"

"Dorothea, do you have any idea how far one of those kids can go when
he teleports?"

"No," Dorothea said. "I really haven't any idea about any of it. Mike
tried to teach me once, but I guess I just don't have the talent."

"Oh," Malone said.

"I wish I could help," Dorothea said.

Silence fell, and gloom followed it.

Time ticked by. The bourbon bottle resumed its seductive winking.

"There is one thing," Dorothea said suddenly. "He did say one thing
about it."

"What?" Malone said eagerly.

"He said you couldn't teleport to some place you haven't been before.
You've got to be able to visualize where you're going."

Malone said, "Hmm." It seemed like the right answer. Dorothea's
statement was a fact, certainly, but he didn't see how the fact fit in
anywhere.

"He didn't mention anything about distance, and I don't think any of
the Spooks ever tested it for that," Dorothea said.

"There probably is a distance limit," Malone