The General pressed his intercom button and held the connection open, waiting for a chance to use it. "Go ahead, Smith," he said. "I'll come directly to the point," said Smith. "I want two things: A place to work in safety and the funds to build another Eddie!" "And what makes you think you can get them from me?" "Because Eddie can help you find the X-15." The General hunched closer to the intercom, raising his voice. "Smith," he stalled, "why don't you come in and talk things over?" "I do not intend to sit around waiting to be killed while your security bunglers try to decide whether I'm telling the truth!" A Staff Sergeant looked in the door. "Is anything wrong, Sir?" The General motioned for silence, then scrawled on a note pad: "Trace this call!" "Now, Dr. Smith," he said, "if you're telling us the truth, you've got nothing to worry about...." "General," Smith replied acidly, "do you know any better way of convincing you than to let Eddie find the X-15?" "Well, I--" "Goodbye, General. You think it over--and I'll call you later. Your word will be sufficient!" The phone clicked, and General Sanders cursed bitterly. Later, he talked it over with Amos Busch, who nodded agreement to the General's proposal. "Sure," he said. "It's worth a gamble--and we'll have Smith where we want him!" When John O'Hara Smith phoned that afternoon, the General said promptly: "Come on in, Dr. Smith--you've got a deal." The available records on this phase of the case show that a Dr. J. O. Smith and three "assistants" were added to the payroll of a small Pasadena electronics firm on September 17, 1955. They were installed in one wing on the top floor of the building. The entrance to this wing was sealed off with the familiar sign: "Restricted--Permission to enter granted only on a need-to-know basis". Apparently, few needed to know, for Smith and his assistants seldom had visitors. Deliveries of electronics components were received by one of the assistants. The four men arrived together, and left together. They brought their lunch. Dr. Smith, of course, had been interrogated briefly when he had turned himself in at USAF Western Division Headquarters. But only the General and Amos Busch had questioned him this time. "Look, Smith," said Amos, "if we're supposed to protect you, I want to know from what--and why it's necessary...." John O'Hara Smith looked almost embarrassed. "I suppose I made the same error that is so often made in declassifying information...." "How's that?" "When information is declassified, it's done without mathematically computing the infinite number of possible ways such information may be useful to a hostile government.... Of course, you need an Eddie to make such a computation!" "What's this got to do with trying to knock you off?" Busch demanded.