"Oh my God."

"Now my question is, will you work for us? Nothing as stupid as trying to tail an experienced investigator, though?"

"Yes Sir, I will."

"Good. Your nation will be proud of you. Make up a code word identification, give me your phone number, and find out everything you can about Hendrickson and Kearns. Don't overlook anything. We probably have most of the information you will find in a computer, but sometimes checking a minor discrepancy will give everything away."

Kathy was so eager to help the United States Government expose the United States Government, that Jed followed through with a suggestion that, if possible, she help Jenny recover the luggage from their hotel room. This required a brazen bit of risk to the three of them, but it played out on the board as if a chess game where the queen was protected by a hidden knight, and a pawn who was not an obvious threat.

Using three taxis, separately, Jenny appeared at the posada, went inside, while Kathy, following as she was supposed to, stopped to talk with Kearns. The bait was that she had a hunch the suspect had reserved a room at the Hotel Ideal. Jed watched, from a back-up position, as Kathy went on to argue that she was tired and wanted to return to the barracks.

When Jenny reappeared with bags in hand and hailed the waiting cab that Kathy had arrived in, Kearns was thrown off stride. It took a moment for him to convince the complaining tail that her job was not finished. He pointed out the taxi Jed was sitting in -a block away, facing in the opposite direction. Kearns shoved Kathy off to run and fetch. She pretended confusion, and disappeared just as Kearns radioed instructions that half of his crew stay in place, the other half were to join Kathy at the stake-out of Hotel Ideal.

Two minutes later, the three made another switch. Kathy took Jenny to a friend's off base apartment for the night. Jed set out on foot, continuing the search for Rosenbaum.

This time, doing the rounds of the casinos, Jed had the advantage of Jenny's effort of searching for freelance feature articles published in various newspapers and local magazines —some in English for the Zoneans— that had the by-line, B. J. Rosenbaum.

In a how-to-win piece on gambling, the author referred to a method of counting cards at the twenty-one table. Because, he claimed, the local clubs still dealt from a single deck, it was possible to change the odds to favor a player by counting face cards to give an edge for a small, but steady win. "Believe it," he had concluded in a folksy style, "my nickname is Black Jack."