gazine
from her handbag and began--presumably--to read.

Her thought came: _Who is this Richard Harris? He's not one of our
Group._

Houston sipped at his drink. _No. An unknown, like the others. I wonder
if he's even a telepath._

_What?_ Her thought carried astonishment. _Why, Dave--he'd_ have _to be!
How else could he have controlled this Sir Lewis--whatsisname--Huntley?_

_Well--I've got a funny idea_, Houston replied. _Look at it this way: So
far as we know, there are two Groups of telepaths. There's our own
Group. All we want is to be left alone. We don't read a Normal's mind
unless we have to, and we don't try to control one unless our lives are
threatened. We stay under cover, out of everyone's way._

_Then there are the megalomaniacs. They try, presumably, to gain wealth
and power by controlling Normals. And they get caught with monotonous
regularity. Right?_

The girl caught an odd note in that thought. _What do you mean,
"monotonous regularity"?_ she asked.

_I mean_, Houston thought savagely, _why is it they're all so bloody
stupid? Look at this Harris guy; he is supposed to have taken over Sir
Lewis's mind in order to get a thousand pounds. So what did he have Sir
Lewis do? Parade all around the city to pick up a PD Police net, and
then give his address to a cabman in a loud voice and lead the whole
net right to Harris! How stupid can a man get?_

_It does look pretty silly_, Dorrine agreed. _Have you got an
explanation?_

_Several_, Houston told her. _And I don't know which one is correct._

_Let's have them_, the girl thought.

* * * * *

Houston gave them to her. None of them, he knew, was completely
satisfactory, but they all made more sense that the theory that Harris
had done what the PD Police claimed he'd done.

Theory Number One: The real megalomaniac Controller had taken over Sir
Lewis's mind and made him draw out the thousand pounds and head west on
Leadenhall Street. Somehow, the Controller had found out that Sir Lewis
was being followed, and had steered him away from the original
destination, heading him toward the innocent Robert Harris. That implied
that the Controller had been within a few dozen yards of the net men
that afternoon. A Controller can't control a mind directly from a
distance, although orders can be implanted which will cause a man to
carry out a plan of action, even though he may be miles from the
Controller. But in order to chan