luise was there, puzzled and sleepy. for reasons of his own, borgenese had sent a squad to bring her in. might as well have her here and get it over with, luis thought. she smiled at him, and he knew that putsyn hadn't lied about that part. she remembered him and therefore putsyn hadn't had time to do much damage.

borgenese was at the desk as he walked in. luis swung putsyn off his shoulder and dropped him into a chair. the man was still unconscious, but wouldn't be for long.

"i see you brought a visitor," remarked borgenese pleasantly.

"a customer," he said.

"customers are welcome too," said the police counselor. "of course, it's up to us to decide whether he is a customer."

luise started to cross the room, but borgenese motioned her back. "let him alone. i think he's going to have a rough time."

"yeah," said luis.

it was nice to know that luise liked him now—because she wouldn't after this was over.

he wiped the sweat off his forehead; all of it hadn't come from physical exertion.

"putsyn here is a scientist," he said. "he worked out a machine that reverses the effects of the retro gun. he intended to go to everyone who'd been retrogressed, and in return for giving them back their memory, they'd sign over most of their property to him.

"naturally, they'd agree. they all want to return to their former lives that bad, and, of course, they aren't aware of how much money they had. he had it all his way. he could use the machine to investigate them, and take only those who were really wealthy. he'd give them a partial recovery in the machine, and when he found out who they were, give them a quick shot of a built-in retro gun, taking them back to the time they'd just entered his office. they wouldn't suspect a thing.

"those who measured up he'd sign an agreement with, and to the other poor devils he'd say that he was sorry but he couldn't help them."

putsyn was conscious now. "it's not so," he said sullenly. "he can't prove it."

"i don't think he's trying to prove that," said borgenese, still calm. "let him talk."

luis took a deep breath. "he might have gotten away with it, but he'd hired a laboratory assistant to help him perfect the machine. she didn't like his ideas; she thought a discovery like that should be given to the public. he didn't particularly care what she thought, but now the trouble was that she could build it too, and since he couldn't patent it and still keep it secret, she was a threat to his plans." he paused. "her name was luise obispo."