"Maybe not so far-fetched." Pak lowered himself into his chair. "A simple operation, really. Sit on a hill surrounded by the nice flowers at dawn-your favorite time of day, you always say-snap a picture, two maybe, and come home."

"Not my job." Pak and I had been over this ground many times before.

It wasn't an argument. We each knew where it was going. "I don't get paid to take pictures out in the countryside. I'm supposed to keep the capital in good order, at least my sector of it. That's what I do. You heard complaints?"

"Inspector, when was the last time you were paid?"

"Okay, so they haven't paid us lately. So, we aren't paid to do anything."

"Good, because that about describes what you do."

From someone else it would have sounded cruel, but I knew Pak didn't mean it. He and I got along fine, mostly. Ten years working together had worn away the rough edges. He was worried about something, I didn't know what, and when he worried he got testy. But this time, I was testy, too. I was the one sitting on wet grass before daybreak, and now I was on the hook to call a party official who wanted to harass me about my pin. "I don't take pictures in dim light of speeding cars without plates.

I especially don't do it with a bad camera." I turned away from the window.

"And why can't we have a thermos when we have to wait around doing nothing at the crack of dawn?"

"Did they see you?" This, too, was typical of Pak. For no reason I could see, he would get mad, then cool off quickly and focus back on the main problem.

"Nobody saw a thing." I was sure no one could have seen me from the road. I had been on a small rise, with another hill behind me. Anyone who looked up from the highway would have focused on the crest of the hill. People did that. You could send a marching band along the flank of a hill and no one would notice. They always eyed the line where earth and sky met. "Even when I was trying to take the picture, I was hunched down. Anyway, I had on a farmer's hat. If the driver took his eyes off that lousy road-which he would have been crazy to do at the speed he was traveling-he would have thought I was Kim Satgat."