"No, thank God," Golfin said. "It proves that the past _can_ be changed. I'd hoped it could." He frowned. "But unfortunately in preventing your murder at Sarah's a new future came into existence. I have to do it all over again." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Tomorrow when I came to see you, you were in here--dead. The door was unlocked. That's how I got in." "Oh fine!" I snorted. "See what I'm doing? I'm packing. In another five minutes I'll be on my way to parts unknown." "I only wish that were true," Golfin said sadly. "Look," I said. "I wish you'd get out and leave me alone. You want to know why I almost got killed last night?" "Yes, I do," Golfin said. "That's something the police couldn't find out--in that other future, I mean." "I'll tell you," I said. "I didn't know anything about Sarah Fish's place. I probably would never have gone there except for you. You bought a pack of cigarettes in the drugstore. Remember?" Golfin blinked his eyes, then nodded. "You paid for them with a three dollar bill." "What is wrong with that?" Golfin asked. "Nothing," I said slowly, "except that there aren't any three dollar bills." "Oh dear me," Golfin said. "Of course there aren't. It completely slipped my mind!" "I wanted one of those three dollar bills," I said. "The druggist wouldn't let me have the one you left, so I went to Sarah Fish's place to find you and get one." A knock sounded at the door. "It's the man who's going to kill you," Sam said. "And there isn't any other way out of here," I said. "How are you going to get me out of this one?" "I don't know," he mused. He looked from me to the door, his eyes thoughtful. "I'm beginning to see something," he said. "It's very interesting. So you went to the Fish residence because of me. Hmmm. I wonder.... It doesn't seem possible, but...." "What doesn't seem possible?" I asked. He smiled apologetically. "There really isn't anything that can be done about that man in the hall." The knocking was repeated, more loudly. "And this future is quite hopeless for you...." Whoever was in the hall was trying some kind of key in the lock. "If I owned a gun it wouldn't be," I said, watching the door bend in under pressure from outside. "If you only knew who it was!" Golfin groaned. "But I do!" I said. "You said at Sarah's that you didn't," Golfin snapped. "I didn't, then," I said. Quickly I told him about George Wile and the package of poisoned needles. "He's obviously planning on murdering someone. Maybe at Sarah's last night," I concluded hastily, my eye on the door. "My switching wallets with him stopped that. Now he's got to kill me before he can go ahead with this other murder, or I could put the finger on him." "Why--didn't--you--say--so--before?" Golfin said, glaring at me with annoyance.