"For him, it's a greater risk to remain passive," said Kintyre. "Didn't we agree that if necessary he can probably buy a witness to account for a day or so absence? Though if Bruce, Guido, C-c-corinna, and I--Margery--if we've simply been found murdered, he might not even need that. There'll be no evidence to convict him." "But why should he gamble his own precious hide? Let Silenio and Larkin do this job too." "No. For one thing, Corinna might have been under protection already--God, if we'd had the brains to request it!" "Mm, yes, I see. A gangster could ring her doorbell and pull a gun when she opened, and be nabbed the next minute if the police did have a stakeout. Clayton is a friend of her family; she'd invite him in and he could extract the gun in privacy after conversation had established it was safe to do so." "That's it. Clayton doesn't know what we know. All he's sure of is that somebody has O'Hearn. He's got to find out who." "Does it matter so much? O'Hearn doesn't know Clayton." "But he knows Silenio, who does. Now suppose the police do have O'Hearn. They won't get the facts from him in a hurry, so there'll be time to dispose of those of us who Corinna tells Clayton know more than he likes. However, eventually the police will learn a few things, and in Chicago they'll be prepared to arrest Silenio and Larkin for questioning. So he'll have to give Silenio and Larkin a prolonged vacation somewhere, till the whole affair has blown over. "On the other hand, if I am keeping O'Hearn, I can be expected to get rough. Therefore Clayton and his friends will have to act in an awful hurry. But if they succeed, all will be well for them: because I and any associates of mine will have been eliminated, in the course of rescuing O'Hearn, and no clues at all will be left for the police." "Games theory," murmured the telephone. "You plan your strategy on the basis of the strategy your opponent would plan on the basis of the information you believe him to have. But this game is for keeps. What do you think we ought to do?" "Throw out a dragnet, of course," said Kintyre. "As for the news angle, the knowledge we admit having--" "That's an obvious one. The police can handle it. Though frankly, events will probably move so fast that our news releases won't influence them one way or another. Sorry, Bob, it had to be said. "One more item. Now that their house is unsafe, have you any idea where they'll go?" Kintyre groaned. "That's the one thing I can't even guess." "You've done pretty well so far," said the gentle tone. "Need any help?" "Yes," said Kintyre. "Get out there and find her." "I'll do what I can," said Trygve Yamamura. Kintyre hung up. Guido sat knotted about a kitchen chair. "Well?" he asked raggedly. "You were listening," said Kintyre. "They've got her. Give me a cigarette." "My sister," mumbled Guido. Kintyre barked an obscenity. "Hell of a brother she's got," he said.