erri brought his quivering hands together and clenched them in his lap. He stared at the old man. "Who are you?"
"I was a friend of hers. We lived in the same hotel-apartment. She had no family. I believe you knew that when you hired her."
"I see," said Terri. He drew a long, deep, shuddering breath, and leaned back in the chair. "So that's the story," he said, his voice strengthening, "I might have known it. Blackmail. There are always fools that want to try blackmail."
"No," said the old man. "Not Blackmail, Comptroller. I want your life."
Terri laughed shortly, contemptuously. "No knowledge that you have can threaten my life."
"They will come," said the old man, leaning wearily back against his cushions. "As you said, the Bureau Guards will come; and I think I shall kill myself when I hear them starting to crack the shield around this room. They will come in and find you with a dead man. What will you tell them, Terri?"
"Tell them? Anything I choose. They won't question me."
"No. The guards won't. But the Bureau will. How can they raise a man to the fourth level when there is a two-hour mystery in his background? They will want to know what you were doing here."