Billings took it all pretty well. I mean the fact that he was going to have to eat his vengeance-for the moment. He assured me he would do his level best to see that Adrian came to trial for his, as Billings put it, "Crimes against Humanity!" I had to wish him luck. He would need it. Cane had contacted me once more before Elmo and I left for a vacation. He told me Adrian was missing. I told Cane that Adrian might have been a lot of bluff. After all, when he realized I was still alive and talking, Adrian might have put together an ugly picture of himself in the hands of a dead lynch mob-rather an unpleasant possibility for a man of refinement. Cane said Authority was trying to get access to his records. He might have been responsible for thousands of new clients. There was no telling how long he and Van Reydner had worked together. Cane ordered me to keep out of sight for a while, but to expect a questioning. Billings paid me exactly what he owed me-no bonus-and wished me luck. I needed luck. So did Elmo. So did a woman named Jan Van Reydner who had become a recurring dream to me.
Part Two: A Witching Time of Night