"Fine," he said. "Now, getting on back to the facts, we've established something, anyhow. Some agency is causing flashes of telepathic static all over the place. And those flashes are somehow connected with the confusion that's going on all around us. Somehow, these flashes have an effect on the minds of people."
"And we know at least one manifestation of that effect," Boyd said. "It makes spies blab all their secrets when they're exposed to it."
"These three spies, anyhow," Malone said.
"If 'spies' is the right word," Boyd said.
"O.K.," Malone said. "And now we've got another obvious question."
"It seems to me we've got about twelve," Boyd said.
"I mean: who's doing it?" Malone said. "Who is causing these telepathic flashes?"
"Maybe it's just happening," Boyd said. "Out of thin air."
"Maybe," Malone said. "But let's go on the assumption that there's a human cause. The other way, we can't do a thing except sit back and watch the world go to hell."
Boyd nodded. "It doesn't seem to be the Russians," he said. "Although, of course, it might be a Red herring."