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again, eh? I warned you it wasn’t secure enough. Have the whole damned blitzkrieg around our necks, if you aren’t careful.”
    I noted with interest that he had slipped from one war to another, mixing them as easily as he had mixed the ladies in his past. He was, perhaps, even more confused than I had bargained for. It was pointless then to read up on World War I, as I had intended doing if we were to spend much time in the Zayle ménage. Obviously, the only thing to do was to try to follow General Sir Malcolm Zayle – at a respectful distance – through whichever time belt he was straying at any given moment. A skimming knowledge of history, plus a generous dollop of child psychology, might be all that was necessary. The main thing was to swim with the tide, rather than try to struggle against it, as Endicott Zayle was doing right now.
    â€œFather,” he said urgently, “you must remember – it was only yesterday –”
    Sir Malcolm looked at him coldly. “I have an excellent memory,” he stated.
    I agreed with him there. It was one of the best memories I had ever encountered, although a bit too selective for practicality. I was glad it was Endicott’s problem, and not mine.
    â€œThey came about Tyler, Father.”
    â€œTyler? Tyler – who?”
    Endicott groaned, and I couldn’t blame him. He inhaled deeply and seemed about to pursue the subject further when the door opened.
    â€œLook who’s here!” Penny popped her head inside, announcing the newcomer with more enthusiasm than formality. She skipped to one side, with a flourish of her hand, like the conjurer’s assistant in a magic act.
    I could have done without the cute little trick she had conjured up. Our old acquaintance, the ailurophobe policeman, walked through the doorway and stopped short at seeing Gerry and me. It was obvious that the sight of us had given him pause – and a very nasty pause, at that.
    After a second, he moved forward again. “I thought she looked familiar,” he said, “but a young girl like that might have changed her job.” She, his tone implied, was young enough to reform.
    â€œHello,” I said. It was very original, but I doubted that he would appreciate sterling wit. Not from me, certainly – and he didn’t look enthusiastic about anyone else in the room, either.
    He walked over to me, frowned, and reaching out, removed a couple of short shining hairs from my shoulder. “Still got that cat, I see,” he observed.
    â€œI’ll give her your love,” I said.
    He grunted and turned away. This brought him face-to-face with Gerry, which he evidently didn’t consider any improvement. He nodded and turned again. This time he was in front of Sir Malcolm; he seemed to feel he could face him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t mutual.
    â€œYoung man.” Sir Malcolm rose, giving the impression of towering over him. “Why aren’t you in uniform?”
    â€œI’m plainclothes – C.I.D. If you’d like to see my warrant card –”
    â€œYoung slackers!” Sir Malcolm looked to his son. “Why must we have these people in the house? They’re a disgrace to King and Country!”
    â€œPlease, Father.” Endicott Zayle started forward. “Why don’t you go up to your quarters? This has nothing to do with you –”
    â€œIt has everything to do with me, if you’re encouraging slackers and –”
    Endicott had his father by one arm. I closed in and took the other arm. Together, we managed to extract him from the room without actually using force and get him upstairs to the austere bachelor quarters he occupied at the top of the house.

Chapter 6
    When we returned to the sitting room, we found that the gentleman from the C.I.D. had made a start on his case by questioning Gerry. Since Gerry hadn’t been present yesterday, this hadn’t improved the shining