“You can probably use this,” I said. I put the passport in front of him.

     He took it and opened it and said, “Jack, very nice. Very nice indeed. You're a splendid addition to the firm.”

     “Something else you ought to know. An item on the bank cards, about a week before he left, sixteen hundred dollars at a gun shop in Reno. I asked myself, what can you buy at a gun shop in Reno that you can't get here?”

     After a second Gilsa said: “Assault rifles. We've got a law, Nevada doesn't.”

     “It came to mind.”

     “That would make sense,” Collins said. “Any gun worth a damn is illegal in the Philippines, and everybody wants one. You can triple your money if it's the right stuff, Ingrams, Sterlings, Uzis. Hide 'em in the Chrysler, the panels. Yeah, get a couple of those goodies into the country, you could do all right.”

     “I just thought you ought to know,” I said. “If he's into that kind of hardware.”

     “ 'Predate it,” he said. “I'll manage.”

     It was a Friday afternoon, about quarter to four. Gilsa looked at his watch and said that he'd buy us a beer.

     “A winner,” Collins said, and he left to clear his desk. Gilsa asked me to stay a minute.

     “You did a nice job,” he said when we were alone. “I mean it. A real first-class effort.”

     “Things fell into place. It happens, sometimes.”

     “I want you to push her.” Precy. “If she drops the claim, we can save the trip. Otherwise, Collins has to go. It gets expensive.”

     “I'll try her tomorrow.”

     “Collins,” he said, “Collins has the experience. He's been there before. That's why he's going.”

     “I know that.”

     “I don't want you upset if he takes the case.”

     “I'm not going to get too attached,” I said, “one day on a case.”