But that, he realized, wasn't quite true. He knew one more thing about the organization. He knew they'd probably be immune to the confusion everybody else was suffering from. The organization would be--had to be--efficient. It would be composed of intelligent, superbly co-operative people, who could work together as a unit without in the least impairing their own individuality. He reached for the pencil again, and put down: 4. Efficient He looked at it. Now it didn't remind him so much of the Monster. But it didn't look terribly familiar, either. Who did he know, he thought, who was large, old, disguised and efficient? It sounded like an improbable combination. He set the paper down, clearing off some of the PRS books to make room for it. And then he stopped. The papers the PRS had sent him.... And he'd gotten them so quickly, so efficiently.... They were a large organization.... And an old one.... He looked for a desk phone, found one and grabbed at it frantically. * * * * * The girl who answered the phone looked familiar. Malone suddenly remembered to check the time--it was just after nine. The girl stared at him. She did not look terribly old, but she was large and she had to be disguised. There seemed to be a lot of teeth running around in this case, Malone thought, between the burlesque stripper in Las Vegas and Miss Dental Display here in New York. Nobody, he told himself, could have collected that many teeth honestly. "Psychical Research Society," she said. "Oh, Mr. Malone. Good morning." "Sir Lewis," Malone said in a rush. "Sir Lewis Carter. I want to talk to him. Hurry." "Sir Lewis Carter?" the girl said very slowly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Malone, but he won't be in at all today." "Home number," Malone said desperately. "I've got to." "Well, I can give you that, Mr. Malone," she said, "but it wouldn't do you any good, really. Because he went away on his vacation and when he does that he never tells us where. You know? He won't be back for two or three weeks," she added as an afterthought. Malone said: "Oog," and thought for less than a second. "Somebody official," he said. "Got to talk to somebody official. Now." "Oh, I can't do that either, Mr. Malone," the toothy girl said. "All of the executives already left on their vacation. They just left a skeleton force here at the office." "They're all gone?" Malone said hollowly. "That's right," the girl said with great cheer. "As a matter of fact, I'm in charge now. You know?" "I'm afraid I do," Malone said. "It's very important, though. You don't have any idea where any of them went?" "None at all," she said. "I'm sorry, but that's how it is. Maybe if you were me you'd ask questions, but I just follow orders and those were my orders. To take over until they get back. You know? They didn't tell me where and I just didn't ask."