"I could have come up to your office, then," Dorothea said, "instead of compromising my reputation by sneaking up to your hotel room." "And what about _my_ reputation?" Malone said. "Besides, the office is no place for what I have in mind." "Why, Mr. Malone!" Malone ignored the comment. "Did you bring the notebook?" he said. "Certainly." Dorothea handed a black, plastic-bound notebook over to Malone. "But what's all this with a notebook? Going to keep score?" "Not exactly," Malone said. He took the notebook and leafed through it idly. It was not Mike Fueyo's book; the boy himself had that now, and there was little chance of getting it back again. This one belonged to Dorothea--but, Malone thought, it could serve the same purpose. "What I have in mind," he said, "is something Mike said the other night, just before the cops barged in. He said something about having tried to teach you the Vanish. And that's why I asked you to come here. Did he teach you?" "Well, he tried," Dorothea said. "But I couldn't do anything with it. I haven't got the Talent, Mike says." She paused. "Is that why you figured I had a notebook like his?" "Sure," Malone said. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Mike's notebook was full of symbols--and that was all they could be. Symbols. If you see what I mean." "Not exactly," Dorothea said. "Symbolism--anyhow, that's what Dr. O'Connor says--is one of the primary factors in psionics." "Dr.... oh, yes," Dorothea said. "Westinghouse. I've heard about him." "Good," Malone said. "Anyhow, I decided the pictures in Mike's notebook were just that--symbols. Things he wanted. And the little squiggles after the names were symbols, too. You know," Malone said, "the boy's pretty smart. Nobody else that I know of has ever figured out a way to teach psionics--at least, not on that level. But Mike has." "He's a good boy," Dorothea said. "Basically." "Fine," Malone said. "Anyhow, if that were true, then the notebook was some sort of guide. And if he tried to teach you the technique, then you had to have a notebook, too. Clear?" "Perfectly," Dorothea said, "so what do you want me to do?" "Teach me," Malone said. There was a silence. "That's silly," Dorothea said. "How can I teach you something I can't do myself? Besides, how do you know you have the Talent?" "As far as the second question goes, I don't know. But I can try, can't I? And as far as the first question goes, that might not be so simple. But I think it can be done--if you remember what Mike tried to teach you." "Oh, I can remember all of that," she said, "but it's just that it didn't do me any good. I couldn't use it." "A man who's paralyzed from the waist," Malone said hopefully, "can't play football. But if he knows how the game's played, he can teach others--anyhow, he can teach the fundamentals. Want to try?"