"The brig" proved to be a small building with a heavy iron door and thick iron bars at the windows. Hale didn't like the looks of the place, but he didn't like the feel of the missile weapon at his back, either. In he went. He took his pack off and submitted to search. Then the guards went outside, taking the pack with them. The heavy door rang like a bell when they slammed it. A second clang indicated a bar across the door. "I'll be damned," said Hale softly. "I run seventy thousand light years to stay out of one jail and walk right into another." He listened to his own voice and noted with satisfaction that his congestion was clearing up. There were voices outside. Hale strolled over to the window to listen. "What is he? An Islander?" asked a voice. Hale hadn't heard it before; obviously another seeker after knowledge--a local busybody. "He's an Islander, all right," said one of the guards. "He wears their clothing." Hale was wearing a standard spaceman's zipsuit and his insulation jacket. "But what would an Islander want to come here for? None of them have left the Island since their ship landed, twelve years ago." "Isn't that obvious? Their Captain Doctor wants to make a deal with the Fisher." Hale listened patiently, and gradually the situation became clearer. Out on the island across the channel was a ship. From the title "Captain Doctor," he gathered that it was an IHC ship. It had been there for twelve years. Hale kept his ears open as more information trickled in. Several more of the townspeople joined the discussion group, and the conversation became livelier. Hale drank it all in, filing and indexing it in his mind. Some of the words used weren't clear at times, but the context helped. Now, a confidence man is an opportunist; no successful con man can afford to be anything else. He must, above all, be able to talk his way out of, or into, anything. Leland Hale's record speaks for itself; killer, thief, yes--but he was also a damned good con man. As Interstellar Police Commander Desmon Shelley remarked some years later: "Leland Hale could have sold antigravity belts to the crew of a ship in free fall at double price--and even then he would have cheated by leaving out the energy units." Slowly, an idea began to form in his mind. Someone called the Fisher wanted to make a deal with the people on the island. If he played his cards right, Hale might be able to make a little profit, one way or another. * * * * * It was several hours before the Village Officer showed up, and by then Hale had the set-up pretty well in mind. His information was far from complete, but he knew enough to enable him to run a bluff.