"Come off it," said Kintyre. "Look, what I'm afraid of is that Larkin, or someone associated with him, may decide Guido isn't safe to leave alive." "All right. Let Guido ask the police for protection." "He can't. I don't know why, but he doesn't dare. He'd rather take his chances with Larkin." "I'd suggest that if he's that scared of the authorities, he deserves whatever he'll get." "Don't be such a damned prig. Guido may be an accessory, of course, but I hate to think that. Why write him off before we're sure he wasn't just someone's dupe?" "Mmmm. What has all this to do with me?" "I want you to keep an eye on him." "So? What's wrong with you doing this? Your vacation is coming up. I still have a living to make, and you can't pay me." "I haven't the skill. And Guido and Larkin both know my face. Also, I do think I can be of some value on this side of the Bay." "Huh! Sherlock Nero Poirot rides again." "No. Think, Trig. The probability is that Bruce was killed by one or more professionals. But they didn't do it for fun. Somebody hired them, and that somebody is the real murderer. I've two reasons for wanting to meddle a little bit, rather than simply dumping what I know into the official lap. First, to spare Guido, at least till I'm sure if he's worth sparing or not. But second, this may not be entirely a police problem. They'll concentrate on the actual, physical killers, try to find one or two or three ants in the whole Bay Area antheap. They've no choice about that, it's their duty. Doubtless they'll put a man on the job of finding out who the killers' boss is. But the police don't know anyone concerned very intimately. The boss will have a certain amount of time to cover his tracks. Or to plan another murder. "I knew Bruce well. I must have met all his friends, however casually. _I have met whoever had Bruce killed._ It may be sheer megalomania on my part, but I think there's a chance I could get an idea who it was." Yamamura put his feet on the desk, leaned back, and stared out the window at the street. "Okay," he said at last. "On conditions." "What?" "I do have my family to keep. Not to mention my license. I'll undertake a week or so of Guido-guarding as an investment. Because if I could get a clue to the murderers, the boss or his torpedos, if I could give any substantial help to the police, the publicity would be good for my business. But to do anything useful along those lines, I'll have to leave Guido from time to time. I'll tail him when I think he may be in danger, yes, but when I think he's going to be safe for a few hours, I'll go check on something else." "All right," said Kintyre. "In fact, excellent."