CHAPTER NINEI let my eyes go from Les Zimmer back to the wall and then to Zimmer again. “Never heard of it,” I said. “Try to straighten up, man. What’s a heat ray?”
He laughed, a high-pitched laugh. I grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. “All right, snap out of it,” I rapped. “You’re acting like some dizzy blister. Now tell me what happened; give me more details.”
He took a deep breath and then shook his head sharply. “Just a minute,” he said. “I’ll be all right. I’m sorry.”
The apology was fine, but I preferred some sense. He crossed over to his desk and sat down at the low-back chair there. He took another deep breath or two and then looked up at me; his eyes were still as earnest as ever, but there was something wild in them, too.
“After you were here yesterday, I got to think
