"Because I drove him in here, that's why." Jeff's voice was a snarl; it
sounded sharp in the quiet room. "I knew he was here because he came
here to escape me. But I didn't know he had any connection with ESP
until I saw the card."
Harpo stared at the card, then at Jeff. "You mean you drove him in
here?"
"That's right. Because I'd have killed him if he didn't come." Jeff's
face was dark as he turned to the girl. "Tell him, Blackie. Tell him
why I'm here."
Blackie told them. They listened with widening eyes, and the room was
still as a tomb.
"And you came in here to kill this man--nothing more?" Harpo's voice
was incredulous. "But man, you're on thin ice, very thin ice. If they
tested you last night, you'll be assigned. Why, you could be forced to
sign a release any time."
"I know it, I know it. Can't you see why there isn't time to bicker
now?" Jeff's voice cracked in the still room, sharp and urgent. "This
is the man, the one I'm looking for and the one you're looking for, the
one with ESP that's got Schiml and his men so excited! It's here on the
card!"
Harpo's eyes were narrow. "Any other proof besides the card that Conroe
is the man?"
Jeff's voice was low with hate. "Look. I've been hunting the man down
for five years. A long time. I've hunted him wherever he's gone. I've
had the best detective agency in North America working with me hand
and foot, tracking him down. But they haven't caught him. We've almost
caught him, we've haunted him, we've run him back and forth across the
country and world until he's ragged. But we've never caught him. Isn't
there some significance to that? Time and again we've come so close
that we couldn't miss--and then we missed. We've come too close too
many times for coincidence. There's another factor, a factor that's
giving Conroe warning, time after time. It's allowed him to slip out of
perfectly sealed traps--_a factor like precognition, for instance_."
There was a long silence. Then the Nasty Frenchman was on his feet, his
lips stretched in a malicious grin. "If we move fast enough, we can
stop it--cut it off at the bud. We're off the payroll now. But we can
get back on it again, if their boy wonder dies."