he dropped to the floor and rolled over, the blissful, foolish grin of unconsciousness was discernible even behind the gag. In the next second, the room had become deathly still.

As Marc closed the door to Gregory Reece's office, he saw Toffee waiting for him near the elevator, and scowled. Somehow, in the morning light, the black dress seemed to leave even more of her exposed than it had in the evening. Undaunted, Toffee smiled brightly at the sight of him.

"Did he like the advertising campaign?" she asked. "Are you going to get the account?"

Marc nodded wearily. "Yes," he said in a dead voice. "He was very enthusiastic."

"What did he say?"

"I don't know," Marc replied sourly. "I could barely hear him. My head was roaring like a lion cage at feeding time." He turned to her fretfully. "Was it absolutely necessary for you to drive my head half way through that wall? If that landlord's to be sore about that bullet hole, he'll fairly scream his head off at the chunk of plaster I knocked out."

"I had to be sure," Toffee explained logically. "I had to be sure you'd lose consciousness, so I could return to your subconscious until you woke up. It was the only way I could get out of that straight jacket. You know that."

"Well, you could have told me, so I could have braced myself," Marc argued unreasonably. "You nearly broke my neck."

"With a gag in my mouth?"

"No, I guess not," Marc admitted reluctantly. "But it seems that you could have tempered your blow a little, at least." He frowned as Toffee suddenly began to giggle. "What's so funny?"

"I was thinking of the desk sergeant, down at headquarters. When I materialized, I miscalculated a bit, and faded in right on top of his desk. He nearly had me locked up without even listening to what I had to say. I don't know when he looked more mixed up, then or later, when he got a load of Miss Quirtt in those curlers."

"Now that I've got the account," Marc sighed, "I wonder if it was all worth it."

"Of course it was," Toffee said. "I thought it was loads of fun!"

If Marc's eyes had really held the power that their expression suggested, the ceiling would certainly have been down around 

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