Out Like a Light

by Randall Garrett; Laurence M. Janifer

Malone said good-by in a hurry and left. His next stop was the

Xochitl, the Mexican bar on Forty-sixth Street. He greeted the bartender warmly.

"Ah," the bartender told him. "You come back. We look for you."

"Look for me?" Malone said. "You mean you found my notebook?"

"Notesbook?" the bartender said.

"A little black plastic book," Malone said, making motions, "about so big. And it——"

"Not find," the bartender said. "You lose him?"

"Sure I lost him," Malone said. "I mean, it. Would I be looking for it if I hadn't lost it?"

"Who knows?" the bartender said, and shrugged.