"It's not dope," said the figure on the cot: a tired, automatic protest. "It's only pod." "Never mind that. If you don't like the law, write your Congressman. Where's the dope?" "They'll kill me if--" "What use is your life to you right now?" asked Yamamura scornfully. It had not seemed possible Guido could shrink further into himself. "That dressing table over there," he whimpered. Yamamura opened the drawer, flipped out a small parcel, and tore a corner. "Uh-huh," he said. "Well?" said Kintyre. "Well, by rights we should turn this and the kid in. It could mean a stretch in a Federal prison, since he crossed a border. It could even mean a loss of citizenship, he being naturalized. Dope is a hysterical issue." Corinna did not speak. Yamamura continued, in an almost idle tone: "However, it's true enough that this isn't a really vicious drug. I could heave it into the nearest garbage can and there'd be an end of the matter. If you think he's had a little sense beaten into him." Kintyre said: "That's my guess, Trig." Yamamura slipped the package into a coat pocket. Corinna shuddered, her fingers closed about Kintyre's. Yamamura knocked the dottle from his pipe, which had gone cold between his teeth, and said, "Let's assume for now that he is telling the truth. Then what have we got?" "A couple of murderers still hanging around," said Kintyre. "Why? Surely not to collect their hashish. That was just a gimmick to make Guido, their decoy, leave town, and make it damn near impossible for him to explain why. Whether or not a murder charge could have been made to stick, it would certainly confuse the issue long enough for this job to be finished, for the killers to go safely home again, and for the one who hired them to cover his tracks completely." "You imply their job is not yet finished," said Yamamura. "I sure do. There's no other sane reason for them to stay around, risking detection and arrest. Only--who's next?" "Guido?" It was Corinna who asked it, firmly. "I doubt that, at least as far as the original plan went. Who wants a dead red herring? Of course, now they may indeed go for him, afraid of what he has spilled. I think we'd better take him across the bay." Yamamura nodded. "Let's get moving," he said. "Up there, lad." He stepped to the cot, took Guido under the arms and hauled him erect. "We can go out the back door." Guido shambled, leaning heavily on the detective. Kintyre and Corinna followed. "He must be telling the truth," she said. "I know him! And that package--" "Does tend to bear out his yarn," said Kintyre. "I want to believe in his essential innocence myself. The trouble is, if his story is true, then who hired the killers?" "That Mr. Clayton?" "Not if Guido has given us a full and fair account. I've explained to you that the Michaelises are out. Who's left?" "I've heard of a writer. Owens, is that his name?"