_Italy again. Though I suppose that our X would have made a special effort to get an Italian-speaking lieutenant, as another safeguard for himself._ "One thing so far," murmured Yamamura. "Guido is in the clear." "Is he?" said Kintyre bitterly. "Wouldn't it be a beautiful turnabout, to make himself look like the fall guy for his own scheme?" He turned back to the crooked blind face on the table. "What did you do afterward?" "Waited in the house. Played cards. Silenio got the money for this job in the afternoon. Cash. He went out for it. Larkin went to pay off the Lombardi sucker Tuesday evening. That was because he didn't show Monday, account of his brother. Larkin got into a fight. We didn't know what it meant. Silenio called the boss and they talked on the phone in wop. Silenio told me to go pick up Guido Lombardi tonight. I figured we was going to find out how much he knew and then maybe dump him too, but I don't know for sure." "Did anything else go on, this night?" "Silenio and Larkin had another job." "Where?" "I don't know." The voice had become a worn rattling. "Were you supposed to meet them at the house?" "I was supposed to wait there with Lombardi till they got back. Silenio wasn't telling either of us more'n he had to." "Will they be back there now?" "I dunno." "Suppose they came back and didn't find you? What would they do?" "Try and find out what happened, I guess. Wouldn't stay in the house if it looked like something had gone wrong." "Where would they go?" "I don't know. Some hotel, I guess." "And what would you do, if you couldn't find them?" "Go back to Chi, I guess." "No spare rendezvous," said Yamamura. "Lousy doctrine." "Not if you're using expendables," said Kintyre. "And this bum is expendable. I imagine Larkin is too, though enough more valuable to go with Silenio--where?" "Over here," said Yamamura. "Very likely to kill someone else." Kintyre looked dully at the stub of his cigarette on the floor. He didn't remember dropping it. "We'll read in the papers who it was." "If we aren't the target ourselves," said Yamamura. "Right now anything seems possible." He sighed. "Well, I'd better call the police." "Wait a bit," said Kintyre. "But that house--God knows what's going on there, right now!" "Nothing, I'm sure. If only because Silenio and Larkin will be worried by O'Hearn's absence. Let's have breakfast, at least, before calling. You devise a story that won't make us quite such lawbreakers. I'm going to try and sort out my thoughts. I have an idea. It's driving me crackers, Trig. I feel I know what this is all about and still there's some kind of wall between me and the knowledge. A wall I've built myself!" "Hm," said Yamamura. He gave the other man a meditative stare. "Yes, it might be worth while waiting till after we eat." Kintyre went out, beating a fist softly into his palm. Yamamura paused to release O'Hearn's eyes. O'Hearn lay and wept.