ould take them a good long while to sort out hers.

Next stop--the Ceyce branch of the Bank of Maccadon. And it was lucky
she'd done all her banking in Ceyce since she was a teen-ager, because
she would have to present herself in person to draw out her savings.
She'd better lose no time getting to the bank either. It was one place
where theoretical searchers could expect her to show up.

She could pay for her ship reservation at the bank. Then to a store for
some clothes and a suitcase for the trip....

And, finally, into some big middle-class hotel where she would stay
quietly until a few hours before the ship was due to take off.

That seemed to cover it. It probably wasn't foolproof. But trying to
work out a foolproof plan would be a waste of time when she didn't know
just what she was up against. This should give her a running start, a
long one.

When should she leave?

Right now, she decided. Commissioner Tate presumably would be informed
that she had applied for a transfer and that the transfer had been
denied. He knew her too well not to become suspicious if it looked as if
she were just sitting there and taking it.

She got her secretary on the ComWeb.

"I'm thinking of leaving the office," she said. "Anything for me to take
care of first?"

It was a safe question. She'd signed the day's mail and checks before
lunch.

"Not a thing, Miss Farn."

"Fine," said Ruya Farn. "If anyone wants me in the next three or four
hours, I'll be either down in the main library or out at the lake."

And that would give somebody two rather extensive areas to look for her,
if and when they started to look--along with the fact that, for all
anyone knew, she might be anywhere between those two points.

A few minutes later, Trigger sauntered, humming blithely, into her room
and gave it a brief survey. There were some personal odds and ends she
would have liked to take with her, but she could send for them from
Manon.

The Denton, however, was coming along. The little gun had a very
precisely calibrated fast-acting stunner attachment, and old Runser
Argee had instructed Trigger in its use with his customary thoroughness
before he formally presented her with the gun. She had never had
occasion to turn the stunner on a human being, but she'd used it on
game. If this cloak and dagger business became too realistic, she'd
already decided she would use it as needed.

She slipped the Denton into the side pocket of a lightwei