"

"My mission?" Malone said.

"Having sneezed twice at me," the girl said, "do you feel satisfied?
Will you vanish softly and silently away? Or do you want to sneeze at
somebody else?"

"I want the president of the Society," Malone said. "According to my
information, his name is Sir Lewis Carter."

"And if you sneeze at him," the girl said, "yours is going to be mud.
He isn't much on novelty."

"I--"

"Besides which," she said, "he's extremely busy. And I don't think
he'll see you at all. Why don't you go and sneeze at somebody else?
There must be lots of people who would consider themselves honored to
be noticed, especially in such a startling way. Why don't you try and
find one somewhere? Somewhere very far away."

Malone was beyond speech. He fumbled for his wallet, flipped it open
and showed the girl his identification.

"My, my," she said. "And hasn't the FBI anything better to do? I mean,
can't you go and sneeze at counterfeiters in their lairs, or wherever
they might be?"

"I want to see Sir Lewis Carter," Malone said doggedly.

The girl shrugged and picked up the phone on the desk. It was a
blank-vision device, of course; many office intercoms were. She
dialed, waited and then said, "Sir Lewis, please." Another second went
by. Then she spoke again. "Sir Lewis," she said, "this is Lou, at the
front desk. There's a man here named Malone, who wants to see you."

She waited a second. "I don't know what he wants," she told the phone.
"But he's from the FBI." A second's pause. "That's right, the FBI,"
she said. "All right, Sir Lewis. Right away." She hung up the phone
and turned to watch Malone warily.

"Sir Lewis," she said, "will see you. I couldn't say why. But take the
side corridor to the rear of the suite. His office has his name on it,
and I won't tell you you can't miss it because I have every faith that
you will. Good luck."

Malone blinked. "Look," he said. "I know I startled you, but I didn't
mean to. I--" He started to sneeze, but this time he got his own
handkerchief out in time and muffled the explosion slightly.

"Good work," the girl said approvingly. "Tell me, Mr. Malone, have you
been toilet-trained, too?"

There was nothing at all to say to that remark, Malone reflected as he
wended his way down the side corridor. It seemed endless, and kept
branching off unexpectedly. Once he blundered into a large open room
filled with people at desks. A woman who seemed to have a great many