Terry smiled warmly. “I feel as if I’m just about to be born,” Terry said. “Does that sound silly? Does it make any sense at all?”

“Sounds very real,” Lowry said seriously.

The phone rang.

Terry leaped up, but Lowry waved her back. “I’ll get it,” he told her.

It was Brady. “That you, Lowry?”

“None other.”

“I got to hand it to you, Lowry,” Brady said. “You figured it right without one miss. We didn’t even have to sweat him.”

“Well, now, that’s a crying shame, isn’t it,” Lowry said with heavy sarcasm. “I’ll bet you boys were all broken up about that. You lost out on the chance to get your weekly quota of exercise.”

Brady muttered something darkly unintelligible. Lowry didn’t ask him to repeat it.

“What about McKay?” Lowry asked. “There’s a girl here who’s kind of interested in what’s going to happen to him.”

“There’s an order out for his release. There’ll be a little bit of red tape and then he’ll walk out of here a free man.”

“Glad to hear that,” Lowry said.

Brady was awkwardly silent for a long moment. Lowry held the phone, making a sign with his thumb and forefinger to tell Terry that everything was all right.

After the pause, Brady said hesitantly, “Say, listen, Lowry—”

“Mmm?”

“Do you think McKay will sue for false arrest?”

“I really don’t know,” Lowry said delightedly. “It’s hard to tell what kind of attitude a man will take when he’s been put in a position like that.”

“Well—er—you think you could get him to soft pedal a little? I mean, go easy on us? I’d be in a hell of a tough jam if he tried really to crack down on us, you know. But if you talked to him—”

“If I did,” Lowry said thoughtfully, “what would there be in it for me?”

Brady paused again. “Well,” he said finally, “we could do you some pretty big favors. Like giving you the run of the juiciest stories for ‘The Seamy Side.’ How’s that?”

“Sounds good,” Lowry said casually. “Maybe I can get McKay to take it easy on you. Provided he isn’t too sore at you, that is.”

“Yeah,” Brady said in a discouraged tone.

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it.”

“See you around, Brady. Thanks for nothing.”

Lowry hung up.

“Well?” Terry asked.

“Perfect,” Lowry said. “They’re letting him go as soon as possible. The doctor is the man.”

“Wonderful!” Terry cried. She was up out of the chair at a bound. “Oh, how can I ever thank you, Ned? It’s been so grand of you to do all this for Bob—”

Suddenly, impulsively, she threw herself against him. Lowry opened his arms wide, more in surprise than anything else, and he felt the girl’s warm presence against him, her lips seeking his.