"Fred had said he'd have your O.K. to execute the second snake by noon and that everything about her was top-secret."
That was enough. "Get Fred and this top-secret snake in here, Anita, and right now! Forget about that call to the Director."
"Yes, sir!" she said, and went out with a swish of skirts.
But Fred came in alone. I decided it was about time to get him back on his heels. "Don't you give a damn about my orders?" I growled at him. His eyebrows shot up. "I distinctly told Anita I wanted you to bring that other snake in with you. I know Anita got the message to you."
But it didn't shake him up. Fred Plaice came right toward my desk, leaned over and put his hands on it, and looked me in the eye. "Gyp," he said. "Gyp, this is once you're going to let me have my way."
"Not that it makes any difference," I snapped. "But why?"
"That's exactly what I'm not going to tell you," he said. "Listen, Gyp, have I ever tried to stick it in you, in any form?"
Fred's a hot-shot. He's the hardest-charger among my Section Chiefs. But I had never found his ambitions extending to my own job as head of the Division of Psychic Investigation. "You're still here," I conceded. "I guess I never caught you at it, Fred."