he public eye. When they liquidated him he fervently
hoped they would make this mistake and prove his point concerning their
operations.

Although he didn't seek martyrdom, Dr. Long was prepared for it, as he
explained to the informal seminar that had accumulated at his home this
Sunday afternoon. It was now late evening and the endless questions were
beginning to grow wearying.

"How do you know," asked a skeptical businessman, "that I am not an
assassin who will ambush you on the way to the bathroom tonight?"

There were several ladies present, and bachelor Long blushed with
annoyance. "You might very well be," he retorted. "But probably I have
some measure of temporary protection from the publicity I have received.
My death, if it occurs, will doubtless appear to be from natural causes,
or perhaps from a most ordinary but unfortunate accident."

He arose. "It's rather late and I have an early class. Will you excuse
me? Thanks for coming, everyone of you." He nodded, trying to smile, but
the chill thought from the businessman's remark persisted. Very possible
it was that one or more members of a goon squad was among the
twenty-some people now beginning to pick themselves off his worn carpet,
footstool, coffee table and the meager furniture he could afford on his
salary.

With a small start he realized that a youngish woman, in her early
thirties, he guessed, was stalling as though she intended to remain
behind. Sure enough, she closed the door behind the others and turned a
very lovely face to him. "I think you are magnificent, Dr. Long," she
said impulsively. "I hope you will spare me just a few minutes alone?"

Long slipped his right hand into his coat pocket casually. On her feet
the woman displayed more than a beautiful face. Her figure was
alarmingly feminine and rather aggressively displayed, feet akimbo,
hips forward, shoulders back. Her hair was nearly platinum, but so
expensively dressed it was impossible to determine whether it was
artificially so.

She caught his hesitation. "Perhaps you would feel better out on the
porch," she offered, smiling with such relaxed understanding that Long
felt a little boorish.

"No. Sit down, please, I didn't catch your name earlier."

* * * * *

"Julie Stone," she introduced herself and held out a long, bare arm. Her
hand squeezed his fingers warmly, more like a man's grip. "My brother is
Senator Stone, and he asked me to stop by an