ounterfeit ring ... well, Malone, I think you need a little
relaxation."

"Relaxation?" Malone said, feeling just a little bit pleased. Of course,
he didn't deserve any of the praise he was getting, he knew. He'd just
happened to walk in on the Gorelik kidnappers because his telephone had
been out of order. And the Transom ring hadn't been just his job. After
all, if other agents hadn't managed to trace the counterfeit bills back
to a common area in Cincinnati, he'd never have been able to complete
his part of the assignment. But it was nice to be praised, anyhow.
Malone felt a twinge of guilt, and told himself sternly to relax and
enjoy himself.

"That's what I said," Burris told him. "Relaxation."

"Well," Malone said, "I certainly would like a vacation, that's for
sure. I'd like to snooze for a couple of weeks--or maybe go up to Cape
Cod for a while. There's a lot of nice scenery up around there. It's
restful, sort of, and I could just--"

He stopped. Burris was frowning, and when Andrew J. Burris frowned it
was a good idea to look attentive, interested and alert. "Now, Malone,"
Burris said sadly, "I wasn't thinking about a vacation. You're not
scheduled for one until August, you know--"

"Oh, I know, chief," Malone said. "But I thought--"

"Much as I'd like to," Burris said, "I just can't make an exception; you
know that, Malone. I've got to go pretty much by the schedule."

"Yes, sir," Malone said, feeling just a shade disappointed.

"But I do think you deserve a rest," Burris said.

"Well, if I--"

"Here's what I'm going to do," Burris said, and paused. Malone felt a
little unsure as to exactly what his chief was talking about, but by now
he knew better than to ask a lot of questions. Sooner or later, Burris
would probably explain himself. And if he didn't, then there was no use
worrying about it. That was just the way Burris acted.

"Suppose I gave you a chance to take it easy for a while," Burris said.
"You could catch up on your sleep, see some shows, have a couple of
drinks during the evening, take girls out for dinner--you know.
Something like that. How would you like it?"

"Well--" Malone said cautiously.

"Good," Burris said. "I knew you would."

* * * * *

Malone opened his mouth, thought briefly and closed it again. After all,
it did sound sort of promising, and if there was a catch in it he'd find
out about it soon enough.

"It's really just a routine ca