"

"And it is," Lynch said, staring at the notebook. He seemed to be
expecting it to rise and strike him.

Malone said: "Have you got any idea who'd be writing about you and me?"

Lynch shook his head. "If I had any ideas I'd feel a lot better," he
said. He wet his finger and turned the notebook pages carefully. When he
saw the list of names on the second page he stopped again, and stared.
This time he whistled under his breath.

Very cautiously, Malone said: "Something?"

"I'll be damned," Lynch said feelingly.

"What's wrong?" Malone said.

The police lieutenant looked up. "I don't know if it's wrong or what,"
he said. "It gives me sort of the willies. I know every one of these
kids."

Malone took out a pill and swallowed it in a hurry. He felt exactly as
if he had been given another concussion, absolutely free and without any
obligation. His mouth opened but nothing came out for a long time. At
last he managed to say: "_Kids?_"

"That's right," Lynch said. "What did you think?"

Malone shrugged helplessly.

"Every single one of them," Lynch said. "Right from around here."

There was a little silence.

"Who are they?" Malone said carefully.

"They're some kind of kid gang, social club, something like that," Lynch
said. "They call themselves the Silent Spooks."

"The what?" It seemed to Malone that the name was just a little fancy,
even for a kid gang.

"The Silent Spooks," Lynch said. "I can't help it. But here they are:
Ramon Otravez, Mario Grito, Silvo Envoz, Felipe Altapor, Alvarez la
Barba, Juan de los Santos and Ray del Este. Right down the line." He
looked up from the notebook with a blank expression on his face.
"There's only one name missing, as a matter of fact. Funny it isn't
there."

Malone tried to look as if he knew what was going on. "Oh?" he said.

"Yeah," Lynch said. "The Fueyo kid--Miguel Fueyo. Everybody calls him
Mike."

While interesting, this did not provide much food for thought. "Why
should his name be on it especially?" Malone said.

"Because he's the leader of the gang," Lynch said. "The boss. The big
shot." He pointed to the list of names. "Except for him, that's all of
them--the Silent Spooks."

Malone considered the missing Mike Fueyo.

He knew perfectly well, now, why Fueyo's name was not in the book.

Who puts his own name on a list?

The notebook was Fueyo's. It had to be.

* * * * *

Lynch was looking at him expectantly.