"Yes, sir."
"Have you had breakfast?"
"Not yet."
"Miller!" shouted Burkholder.
A very big man came up to them.
"What is your name?" Burkholder asked the captain.
"Christian, sir."
Burkholder turned to Miller.
"Christian will live in your trailer. Show him where it is and take him to the kitchen. Then go back to work."
Burkholder went away. The big man led the captain to a small trailer. Inside there were two beds.
"Leave your bag," said Miller, "and I'll show where to eat."
"Have you been working long here?" asked Christian.
"I started yesterday."
So the big man could not tell him much, Christian thought. Well, at least he was here: now he must see what he could discover.
He did not see the Brains until evening. In the evening they came from a large trailer. They were all dressed in grey. They moved without paying attention to the people around. They had small bodies and very big heads. They were short: not more than four feet in height. They looked very unpleasant.
Looking at the Brains, he decided: "Fox must be right, after all."
- 8 -
At around 10 o'clock the show was over, and the public left the Fair. Christian went to the kitchen, took his supper and sat on one of the benches.
Soon two small girls came in. One of them sat down beside Christian and began to talk.
"You are new, aren't you?"
"Started today, miss." Only now Christian realized that she was not a child, but a very small grown-up woman.
"I'm Jo," she said, laughing. "You need not feel awkward. We are different only outside; inside we are just like anybody else"
She had soft dark hair and wore a pink dress.
"You are a sailor, aren't you? Tell us about the sea - I'm sure you've had lots of adventures."
"You won't believe me," replied Christian. "Once I was shipwrecked on a rock in the middle of the ocean, and every night mermaids brought me food and sang me to sleep. Another time I was swallowed by a whale, but I had my knife with me, so I cut a hole in the side of the whale and escaped."
Jo laughed.
"Don't tell me about the sharks," she said. "I shan't believe that if you don't show me your wooden leg!"
Christian looked round.
"I don't see the Brains," he said. "I suppose they eat something."
"Not with us," said Jo with contempt. "they are too high to mix with the rest of us. They are not true dwarfs, not like Mabel and me."
"If the Brains are not dwarfs," said Christian, "what are they?"
"I don't know. None of us like them very much. They never leave their trailer, except for their act. But they are clever… and cruel!"
She shuddered.
"I wonder if they went out last night," said Christian.
"I don't think so," said Jo. "It seems that they are afraid of the dark - at least they keep the door of their trailer locked all night, and the lamps burning."
Soon Christian said good-night to Jo and walked to the trailer where he and Miller slept. When he came, Miller was preparing to go out
"I'll come late," Miller said. "But don't worry, I shan't make noise."
Christian was glad to hear it, because he wanted to go out himself to watch the Brains; so he would not have to explain anything to Miller.
- 9 -
Christian spent almost all night watching the Brains' trailer, but in vain: they did not leave it.
In the evening of the next day, when the show was over, Christian was standing at the back of the large tent and waiting for the Brains. It was cold and it was raining. When they came out, he said:
"Typical English weather, this."
The Brains did not answer. Christian tried again.
"I suppose," he said, "the climate is warm in the place you come from."
When they were standing close to him, he could see individual differences in them. One had a more pointed chin than the others; the second had his ears flat against the skull; the third had a scar on his nose.
"It is true that we are used to an even temperature," said the Brain with the scar.
He spoke with a strange accent.
"What country it is?" asked the captain.
He received no answer. All three Brains were silent. Looking down at them, Christian saw that each had a belt at his waist; and in each belt there was a large black crystal with some strange engraving on it.
He stretched out his hand to touch the nearest crystal and exclaimed: "I've never seen anything like these before!"
Their reaction was immediate. All three Brains jerked away from him, as from something dangerous.
"Keep your hands off," one of them said angrily. "You must not touch!"
"Sorry," said Christian. He was intrigued.
They looked at him a moment, then quickly walked to their trailer. The captain remained standing there, wondering: what the devil was that all about?
- 10 -
Kurt Lawrence looked at the clock again. It was now past midnight, and Grace was not yet home. He thought: "She's seeing too much of Stacey…"
He tried to concentrate on his work. He was a tall man with brown hair, younger than he looked. His work was nearly finished. He had worked out a new method of launching rockets. It was a big step forward.
He looked at the clock again. Twenty minutes past midnight. Where was Grace now? He decided that in future he would devote more time to his wife.
He returned to his table to work out final details. When at last he finished, it was one o'clock. He heard someone at the door of the house. He opened the door of his room and went along the corridor, calling:
"Grace? Is that you, Grace?"
Kurt Lawrence did not know it then, but his worries were almost over…
- 11 -
Three cars stopped at the entrance to the Burkholder Fair. Four men in plain clothes got out of each car. They found Burkholder and explained what they wanted. The owner of the Fair did not like the idea, but he had no choice.
In ten minutes, everyone who worked at the Fair, was inside the large tent. The men in plain clothes were questioning them. Meanwhile, other men were searching the tents and trailers.
Christian was questioned, too. Miller, to his surprise, was with the people who asked the questions.
Afterwards, Miller took Christian aside and said "I must now introduce myself."
He showed Christian his card; very simply it said that he was an operative of Military Intelligence.
"So you see," said Miller, "that we haven't ignored the theories of your friend Fox. Now we have something important to discuss. I know that you have been watching the Brains. Well, did you see them yesterday between midnight and two a.m.? Did they leave their trailer?"
"Another murder?" asked Christian.
"Yes, the seventh - a man named Kurt Lawrence. He worked with rockets. He was murdered, and some important papers disappeared at the same time."
"I can't help you," Christian said slowly. "I watched their trailer again, but I didn't see the Brains at all. A lamp was burning in the trailer - I think they were inside."
"H-m." Miller sat down on a chair and waved a large hand. "Make yourself comfortable - nobody will disturb us."
The captain sat down and put a cigar between his lips.
"The trouble is," said Miller, "that now I have declared my position. So I can't remain here." He looked thoughtfully at Christian. "Will you stay on here? They don't suspect you - and I shall be glad if you help."
"I'll do anything I can," said the captain.
"I'd like to see the murder weapon," said Miller. "Do you know the strangest thing about the Brains? They have no past!"