“I beg your pardon,” the old man said.
“Nothing,” the Section G agent said. He leaned forward and, a worried frown working its way over his face, began to question the other more closely.
Afterwards, Ronny Bronston strode slowly toward the UP headquarters. There was only a small contingent of United Planets personnel on this little populated member planet but, as always, there seemed to be an office for Section G.
Ronny stood outside it for a moment. There were voices from within, but he didn't knock.
In fact, he cast his eyes up and down the short corridor. At the far end was a desk with a girl in the Interplanetary Cultural Exchange Department working away in concentration. She wasn't looking in his direction.
Ronny Bronston put his ear to the door. The building was primitive enough, rustic enough in its construction, to permit his hearing.
Tog Lee Chang Chu was saying seriously, “Oh, it was chaotic all right, but no, I don't really believe it could have been a Tommy Paine case. Actually I'd suggest to you that you run over to Catalina. When I was on Avalon I heard rumors that Tommy Paine's finger seemed to be stirring around in the mess there. Yes, I'd recommend that you take off for Catalina immediately. If Paine is anywhere in this vicinity at all, it would be Catalina.”
For a moment, Ronny Bronston froze. Then in automatic reflex his hand went inside his jacket to rest over the butt of the Model H automatic there.
No, that wasn't the answer. His hand dropped away from the gun.
He listened, further.