"That ought to be easy to solve," I argued. "Probably some coin collector is screaming all over the place for it. No doubt lost it and Star found it. Must be lots of old coins like that in museums and in private collections." I was rationalizing more for my own benefit than for Jim. He would know all those things without my mentioning them. He waited until I had finished. "Step two," he went on. "We've got one of the top coin men in the world here at the museum. As soon as I saw what the metal was, I took it to him. Now hold onto your chair, Pete. He says there is no coin like it in the world, either museum or private collection." "You museum boys get beside yourselves at times. Come down to Earth. Sometime, somewhere, some collector picked it up in some exotic place and kept it quiet. I don't have to tell you how some collectors are--sitting in a dark room, gloating over some worthless bauble, not telling a soul about it--" "All right, wise guy," he interrupted. "Step three. That coin is at least four thousand years old _and it's also brand-new_! Let's hear you explain that away." "New?" I asked weakly. "I don't get it." "Old coins show wear. The edges get rounded with handling. The surface oxidizes. The molecular structure changes, crystalizes. This coin shows no wear, no oxidation, no molecular change. This coin might have been struck yesterday. _Where did Star get it?_" "Hold it a minute," I pleaded. * * * * * I began to think back. Saturday morning. Star and Robert had been playing a game. Come to think of it, that was a peculiar game. Mighty peculiar. Star would run into the house and stand in front of the encyclopedia shelf. I could hear Robert counting loudly at the base tree outside in the back yard. She would stare at the encyclopedia for a moment. Once I heard her mumble: "That's a good place." Or maybe she merely thought it and I caught the thought. I'm doing that quite a bit of late. Then she would run outside again. A moment later, Robert would run in and stand in front of the same shelf. Then he also would run outside again. There would be silence for several minutes. The silence would rupture with a burst of laughing and shouting. Soon, Star would come in again. "How does he find me?" I heard her think once. "I can't reason it, and I can't ESP it out of him." It was during one of their silences when Ruth called over to me. "Hey, Pete! Do you know where the kids are? Time for their milk and cookies." The Howells are awfully good to Star, bless 'em. I got up and went over to the window. "I don't know, Ruth," I called back. "They were in and out only a few minutes ago." "Well, I'm not worried," she said. She came through the kitchen door and stood on the back steps. "They know better than to cross the street by themselves. They're too little for that. So I guess they're over at Marily's. When they come back, tell 'em to come and get it." "Okay, Ruth," I answered.