"Where does that bag fit?" he demanded.

"No idea," I said truthfully. "A random factor. I don't think she fits."

"_Something_ has to fit!" he yelled in his oversized whisper. "How about
the way our losses follow Curley Smythe around from table to table?"

This was something. "The table you watch is the one that gets hit?" I
asked Smythe.

He blushed, clear to the top of his bald head. "A subtle, nasty
operator," he said gruffly. "And he's had the gall to stick it in me
pretty badly, Wally. What Sime says is true."

Well, this we wouldn't stand for. I didn't give a care if every gambling
house in Nevada went broke. But Smythe was in the Lodge. And it finally
made sense that the Lodge had sent me to bail him out. I gave old
Maragon my mental apology. The Grand Master wouldn't stand still for
_anybody's_ making a fool out of the Lodge. Still: "Nobody that good is
out of captivity," I snapped. "I don't believe it. It's not TK that's
robbing you."

"Oh, ridiculous," Rose said, showing his teeth. "Gambling is our
business, Lefty. Don't you think we could spot any of the ordinary kinds
of cross-roading? This is TK, and it has real voltage. We can't spot it.
We've got to have Psi power do it for us."

"Maybe," I agreed. "But no TK can do it if Smythe can't. Have you tried
a PC?"

Simonetti grabbed a piece of the heavens in rage. "No!" he yelled in his
loud whisper. "None of your crystal-ball witches in here!"

I knew how he felt. PC's give me the colly-wobbles, too.

"What's the matter with precognition?" I asked him. "If this crook has
got you stuck, Rose is right. Only Psi force will get you out of this
jam. If you know in advance where this operator is going to hit you, you
can nail him. There's a dozen techniques."

Peno Rose looked at me from under lowered brows. "Are _you_ a PC,
Lefty?" he asked me.

"No," I said shortly. The Lodge had proved that several times, in spite
of my strong feelings that I had flashes of precognition. Why should I
resent not having PC? How many Psi personalities have more than one
power? Not many. And as for precognition, as Simonetti said, more than
their fair share is possessed by wild-looking women. Like Sniffles, I
thought suddenly.

"Well," Rose said, turning back to his partner. "Let Sime and me talk it
over. Maybe we should get a PC."

"Nuts," Simonetti told him.

"I'll think it over, too," I said. "See you tomorrow." I turned to go.
Simonetti and Smythe followed me