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'Mr Renshaw?'

The desk clerk's voice caught him halfway to the elevator, and Renshaw turned back i from one hand to the other The envelope in his coat pocket, stuffed with twenties and fifties, crackled heavily The job had gone well and the pay had been excellent - even - after the Organization's 15 per cent finder's fee had been skiin and tonic and sleep

'What is it?'

'Package, sir Would you sign the slip?'

Renshaw signed and looked thoughtfully at the rectangular package His naummed label in a spiky backhand script that seee on the i clanked faintly inside

'Should I have that sent up, Mr Renshaw?'

'No, I've got it' It was about eighteen inches on a side and fitted clumsily under his arm He put it on the plush carpet that covered the elevator floor and twisted his key in the penthouse slot above the regular rack of buttons The car rose smoothly and silently He closed his eyes and let the job replay itself on the dark screen of his mind

First, as always, a call from Cal Bates: 'You available, Johnny?'

He was available twice a year, ood, very reliable, but what his customers really paid for was the infallible predator's talent John Renshaas a huenetics and environs superbly: kill and survive

After Bates's call, a buff-coloured envelope appeared in Renshaw's box A naraph All coe disposal with the ashes of envelope and contents

This time the face had been that of a sallow Miami businessman named Hans Morris, founder and owner of the Morris Toy Coone to the Organization The Organization, in the person of Calvin Bates, had talked to John Rensha

Mourners please omit flowers

The doors slid open, he picked up his package and stepped out He unlocked the suite and stepped in

At this ti room was splashed with April sunshine He paused for a e on the end table by the door and loosened his tie He dropped the envelope on top of it and walked over to the terrace

He pushed open the sliding glass door and stepped out It was cold, and the wind knifed through his thin topcoat Yet he paused a ht survey a captured country Traffic crawled beetlelike in the streets Far away, allittered like a e To the east, all but lost behind the don high rises, the crammed and dirty tenements with their stainless-steel forests of TV aerials It was better up here Better than in the gutters

He went back inside, slid the door closed, and went into the bathroo, hot shower

When he sat down forty e, drink in hand, the shadows had marched halfway across the wine-coloured carpet and the best of the afternoon was past

It was a bomb

Of course it wasn't, but one proceeded as if it were That hy one had re nourishreat unemployment office in the sky

If it was a bomatic Plastique was more likely these days, anyway Less tesBen

Renshaw looked at the posto So the boone off in the hotel safe in that case

Mia There had been a fraraph on the sallow businessman's desk The photo had been of an even sallower old crone wearing a babushka The script slanted across the bottoirl - Mom'

What kind of a number-one idea is this, Mom? A do-it-yourself extermination kit?

He regarded the package with co, his hands folded Extraneous questions, such as how Morris's nuht - have discovered his address, did not occur to him They were for later, for Cal Bates Unimportant now

With a sudden, almost absent move, he took a small celluloid calendar out of his wallet and inserted it deftly under the twine that crisscrossed the brown paper He slid it under the Scotch tape that held one end flap The flap caainst the twine

He paused for a ti, then leaned close and sniffed Cardboard, paper, string Nothing more

He walked around the box, squatted easily on his haunches, and repeated the process Twilight was invading his aparters

One of the flaps popped free of the restraining twine, showing a dull green box beneath Metal Hinged

He produced a pocket knife and cut the twine It fell away, and a few helping prods with the tip of the knife revealed the box

It was green with black s, and stenciled on the front in white letters were the words: GI JOE VIETNAM FOOTLOCKER Below that: 20 Infantrymen, 10 Helicopters, 2 BAR Men, 2 Bazooka Men, 2 Medics, 4 Jeeps Below that:

a flag decal Below that, in the corner: Morris Toy Company, Miami, Fla

He reached out to touch it, then withdrew his hand So inside the footlocker had moved