nt Spooks," Malone said. "That's right."

"The Spooks," Kettleman said. His voice was rather higher than Malone
would have expected, oddly breathy without much depth to it. "My, yes. I
did want to talk to somebody about it, and I thought you might be the
man."

"I'll be interested in anything you have to say," Malone said
diplomatically. He was beginning to doubt whether he'd get any real
information out of Kettleman. But it was impossible to tell. He sat back
in a hard wooden chair and tried to look fascinated.

"Well," Kettleman said tentatively, "the boys themselves have sort of a
word for it. They'd say that there was something ... ah ... 'oddball'
about the Spooks. Do you understand? Not just the fact that they never
drink liquor, you understand, but--"

"Something strange," Malone said. "Is that what you mean."

"Ah," Kettleman said. "_Strange._ Of course." He acted, Malone thought,
as if he had never heard the word before, and was both pleased and
startled by its sound. "Perhaps I had better explain my position a
little more clearly," he said. "That will give you an idea of just where
I ... ah ... 'fit in' to this picture."

"Whatever you think best," Malone said, resigning himself to a very dull
hour. He tried to picture Kettleman in the midst of a gang of juvenile
delinquents. It was very hard to do.

"I'm a social worker," Kettleman said, "working on an individual basis
with these--social groups that the adolescents have formed. It's my job
to make friends with them, become accepted by them, and try to turn
their hostile impulses toward society into more useful, more acceptable
channels."

"I see," Malone said, feeling that something was expected of him.
"That's fine."

"Oh, we don't expect praise, we social workers," Kettleman said
instantly. "The worth of a good job well done, that's enough for us." He
smiled. The effect was a little unsettling, as if a hippopotamus had
begun to laugh like a hyena. "But to continue, Mr. Malone," he said.

"Of course," Malone said. "Certainly."

"I've worked with many of the organizations in this neighborhood,"
Kettleman said. "And I've been quite successful in getting to know
them, and in being accepted by them. Of course, the major part of my job
is more difficult, but ... well, I'm sure that's enough about my own
background. That isn't what you're interested in, now, is it?"

He looked penitent. Malone said: "It's all right. I don't mind." He
shifted positio