"Oh," Dorothea said. "We keep him around—kept him around, I mean—as a sort of joke. A pet, or a mascot. Of course, he never did catch on. I don't suppose he has yet."
Malone laughed. "Nope," he said. "He hasn't."
"And even your friend is happy," Dorothea said.
"Boyd?" Malone said. "Sure. He called his blonde and she was just thrilled at the adventures of an FBI agent, and he's with her now."
"You sound jealous," Dorothea said.
"The hell I am," Malone said, and proceeded to prove his point. Some minutes later they relaxed.
"Mike," Dorothea said. "What?"
"Mike," she said. "He's probably the happiest of all. After Mom and I talked to him for a while, anyhow, and he began to lose that—that trapped feeling. Now he's all excited about being an FBI man." She looked worriedly at Malone for a second. "You weren't kidding about that, were you?" she said.
She looked very pretty when she was worried. Malone leaned over and kissed her with great care. After a second, the kiss seemed to gain momentum on its own, and all restraint went by the wayside. A long time passed.
Then, as Malone pulled away and began to recover his breath, he said weakly, "You were saying?"