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Pitt hesitated, looking down at his grimly, sweat-stained shirt and pants under the torn and just as grimy windbreaker He didn't need a mirror to see the bloodshot eyes and five o'clock shadow He could easily iine himself as the perfect reflection of a Boino But then he figured, what the hell, he'd just stepped off as once the ious ocean liner in the world

"What's the most luxurious and expensive hotel in town?"

"The Pierre, on Fifth Avenue and Sixty-first, ain't cheap

"The Pierre it is then"

The driver looked over his shoulder, studied Pitt, and wrinkled his nose Then he shrugged and pulled into the traffic He took less than a half hour to reach the curb in front of the Pierre, overlooking Central Park

Pitt paid off the cabby and walked through the revolving doors and up to the desk

The clerk gave hiust that was a classic "I'htily before Pitt could open his mouth "We're all filled up"

Pitt kneould only be a matter of minutes before a ave his real name He wasn't ready to face the ordeal of celebrity status yet All he wanted was uninterrupted sIeep

"I anant "I happen to be Professor R Malcolist I have just stepped off the plane after a four-e My e from the airport"

The desk clerk was instantly transformed into peaches and creanize you However, we're still filled up The city is croith people who came to see the arrival of the Titanic I'm sure you understand"

It was a masterful performance He didn't buy Pitt or one word of his fanciful tale

"I'll vouch for the professor," said a voice behind Pitt "Give hie it to this address"

A card was thrown on the counter The desk clerk picked it up and read it and lit up like a roistration card before Pitt and produced a rooht of hand

Pitt slowly turned and ard as his The lips were turned up in a crooked s, but the eyes were dulled with the lost and vacant stare of a zoram