"I am afraid she is. Just as deep as you are. And you and Jean are
going to do what I tell you in this investigation whether you happen to
like it or not. That is, if you ever want to marry Jean--"
Faircloth whirled on Roberts, his eyes blazing. "What do you mean by
that?" he said softly. "What are you trying to say?"
Roberts' eyes caught Paul's, and held them. "I'm saying that you happen
to be a Psi-High, Paul. And I just happen to know it."
* * * * *
Paul Faircloth sank down in the chair again, staring at Roberts' face.
There was silence in the room for a long time. Then Paul said, "That's
a pretty bad joke, Bob."
Roberts nodded sharply, his eyes twinkling. "I'll say it's a joke. It's
a colossal horse laugh--on Ben Towne. He was so sure that that private
file of his contained the names and histories of every psi-positive
individual in the country! It's a horse on you, too. It's against
Federal law to forge examination papers, Paul. It's against the law for
a Psi-High to be unregistered. Both state and Federal registration are
required. And it's against the law for two Psi-Highs to be married,
regardless of their stage of developement. Jean's work with Dr. Abrams
has developed her powers amazingly in the last couple of years. Yours
must be pretty crude, in order to keep them hidden so well--"
"You've gone out of your mind," said Faircloth flatly.
"Sorry, my friend. I'm afraid not."
"But you have no proof--"
"True, its strictly a hunch, and a little personal investigation. You
were through school when the registry law went through, and you must
have found somebody to leak the examination to you early. How you did
it, I neither know nor care. But all I need is a good strong suspicion
to subpoena you over to the Hoffman Center for a test." He smiled
at Faircloth. "Care to have me call Dr. Abrams? He's got some nice
definitive tests--"
Faircloth's eyes fell. "That won't be necessary." He sighed, and sank
wearily back into the relaxer. "I knew it would be spotted sooner or
later. I even thought for a while that Marino had spotted it."
"He had."