"I haven't got time to wait for them," she said. "You'll have to pass the word."

"I haven't got time to wait for them," she said. "You'll have to pass the word."

"I'm not sure," said Megan, taking a chair. She reached into her purse, pulled out a pack of cigarettes,

and lit up. "Last night, there was a break-in at the local Bureau office over at the college."

"We know," said Stanley. "But our orders were to maintain our covers, so none of us responded. We

figured either you or Ramirez would handle it."

"I did," she said. "I found a girl in the office, about twenty-one, twenty-two, tough little type, using

Ramirez's computer. And a broom standing lookout."

"A what?" asked Stanley.

"A broom," she said, exhaling smoke through her nostrils.

"That's what I thought you said," said Stanley.

"You should have seen this thing," said Megan with a snort. "It was one of those old-fashioned sweep

brooms, you know, just a bunch of straw bristles tied to a stick? Only it was animated. It had long,

skinny arms sprouting from its pole and it could talk. With a Queens accent, no less."

"You're kidding," Rosowitz said.

"Swear to God. And you haven't heard the best part. When I grabbed the broom and walked in on the

girl, she had a printout of my Bureau jacket. Plus a list of all your names, your covers, and where you had

booked rooms, including the phone number for each room."

"I don't believe it!" Stanley said.

"Believe it. I busted her and took her down to police headquarters. That was the first wrong move I

made. I should have dealt with her right then and there, but I figured a trip to police headquarters would

shake her up enough to answer questions. But she's been that route before, I'd stake my career on it. She

knew the whole routine. Wouldn't be intimidated. Wouldn't even tell me her name. So I figured I'd lean

on her a little and threaten her with a spell of compulsion. That usually does the trick and gets them to

open up. Only not this one. She baited me, sat there and dared me to do it. And that's when I made my

second mistake."

"You didn't," Rosowitz said.

"The smug little bitch got to me," said Megan sourly.

"Oh, Christ," said Stanley.

"Wait," she said. "You haven't heard the rest of it. All right, I lost my temper and I shouldn't have, but

sheresisted . I threw everything I had at her and nothing happened. It flat didn't work."

"Wait a minute," Rosowitz said, "how old did you say this girl was? Early twenties?"

"That's right."