"Poor bastard. I can imagine how he feels." "Well," said Harries, "what does Kintyre think?" Yamamura told him. Harries whistled. "That wouldn't even get past a grand jury," he said. "It's a line worth further investigation, though," said Yamamura mildly. "I wonder where Clayton is right now?" Harries snatched up the phone. Yamamura waited. The inspector hung up with a bang. "Not at the Fairhill. I'll try his place in the City, and the office. Know the numbers?" Presently: "Not there, either. Well, it's no crime. But I'll put a man on it." "About releasing information to the press," said Yamamura. "Could you withhold any mention of Kintyre? He's in no shape to see reporters, or even tell them to go away." "Glad to," said Harries. "We're going to sit on the facts as much as possible. We'll get the papers to cooperate. Why let the killers know what we know? They can guess we hold O'Hearn, but not that O'Hearn squealed." "Good. Now let me make that statement so I can get back to my own office. Maybe a client has shown up, for a change." None had. Yamamura polished his new sword. A thought nagged the back of his being. If Clayton was guilty, why should Clayton disappear? Harries was right, Kintyre's reasoning was skeletal. Without further evidence, it wouldn't be enough to arrest a dog for flea scratching. Clayton would do best to sit tight and be wronged righteousness. But did he know that? O'Hearn had been sent after Guido merely because Larkin had gotten in a fight at the Alley Cat. If Larkin had not remembered the name "Kintyre" and reported it through Silenio, Clayton could still have made a shrewd guess at it. Yamamura picked up his own phone and dialed. "Hi, Bob. How goes it?" "I'm breathing," said Kintyre listlessly. "Nobody at the murder house. Clayton has dropped from sight, too. You and Guido could be the next targets. Want a police guard?" "No. He wouldn't be stupid enough to try for us just now," said Kintyre, without great interest. "Especially when he doesn't know how much I know. He would establish that first--yes, that would need his personal attention. Let's reconstruct it."