“Brian Engle,” he said. “I’m pleased to meet you, although the circumstances are—” He shrugged helplessly. What were the circumstances, exactly? He could not think of an adjective which would adequately describe them.

“Bit bizarre, aren’t they?” Hopewell agreed. “Best not to think of them right now, I suppose. Does the crew answer?”

“No,” Brian said, and abruptly struck his fist against the door in frustration.

“Easy, easy,” Hopewell soothed. — “Tell me about the cap, Mr Engle. You have no idea what satisfaction and relief it would give me to address you as Captain Engle.”

Brian grinned in spite of himself. “I am Captain Engle,” he said, “but under the circumstances, I guess you can call me Brian.”

Nick Hopewell seized Brian’s left hand and kissed it heartily. “I believe I’ll call you Savior instead,” he said. “Do you mind awfully?”

Brian threw his head back and began to laugh. Nick joined him. They were standing there in front of the locked door in the nearly empty plane, laughing wildly, when the man in the red shirt and the man in the crew-necked jersey arrived, looking at them as if they had both gone crazy.

3

Albert Kaussner held the hair in his right hand for several moments, looking at it thoughtfully. It was black and glossy in the overhead lights, a right proper pelt, and he wasn’t at all surprised it had scared the hell out of the little girl. It would have scared Albert, too, if he hadn’t been able to see it.

He tossed the wig back into the seat, glanced at the purse lying in the next seat, then looked more closely at what was lying next to the purse.