"Certainly," Bending said. He wondered if the safe _had_ been robbed. In the certainty that it was only the Converter that the burglars had been after, he hadn't even thought about the safe. Bending touched the handle, turned it a trifle, and the door swung open easily in his hand. "It wasn't even locked," Bending said, almost to himself. He looked inside. The safe had been thoroughly gone through, but as far as Bending could see, there were no papers missing. "Don't touch anything in there, Mr. Bending," said Ketzel, "Just tell us as much as you can by looking at it." "The papers have been disturbed," Bending said carefully, "but I don't think anything is missing, except the petty cash box." "Uh-huh," Ketzel grunted significantly. "Petty cash box. About how much was in it, Mr. Bending?" "Three or four thousand, I imagine: you'll have to ask Jim Luckman, my business manager. He keeps track of things like that." "Three or four _thousand_ in petty cash?" Ketzel asked, as though he'd prefer Bending to correct the figure to "two or three hundred." "About that. Sometimes we have to order equipment of one kind or another in a hurry, and we can usually expedite matters if we can promise cash. You know how it is." Sergeant Ketzel nodded sourly. He evidently knew only too well how it was. Even the most respectable businessmen were doing occasional business with the black market in technological devices. But he didn't say anything to Bending. "What did the cash box look like?" he asked. Bending held out his hands to measure off a distance. "About so long--ten inches, I guess; maybe six inches wide and four deep. Thin sheet steel, with a gray crackle finish. There was a lock on it, but it wasn't much of one; since it was kept in the safe, there was no need for a strong lock." Sergeant Ketzel nodded. "In other words, an ordinary office cash box. No distinguishing marks at all?" "It had 'Bending Consultants' on the top. And underneath that, the word 'Lab'. In black paint. That 'Lab' was to distinguish it from the petty cash box in the main office." "I see. Do you know anything about the denominations of the bills? Were they marked in any way?" Bending frowned. "I don't know. You'd have to ask Luckman about that, too." "Where is he now?" "Home, I imagine. He isn't due to report for work until ten." "O.K. Will you leave word that we want to talk to him when he comes in? It'll take us a while to get all the information we can from the lab, here." He looked back at the hole in the wall. "It still doesn't make sense. Why should they go to all that trouble just to shut off a burglar alarm?" He shook his head and went over to where the others were working.