fugitives. It is in one of these rooms that Barbara D'Courtney is found, apparently having been scooped off the street by Chooka's pimps after wandering away from the Beaumont house in a catatonic state. Chooka had been using her in the fortune-telling act, though this is not described. Duffy Wyg& (read "Wygand"), the composer of the "'Tenser,' said the Tensor" jingle. "To Reich she was the epitome of the modern career girl—the virgin seductress", who seems to crave either humiliation or conquest by men. Sam @kins (read "Atkins"), Esper 1 MD, is a top psychiatrist like Gus Tate. Unlike Tate he does not resent his Guild taxes and throws himself into charity work. His home on Venus is full of charity cases and hangers-on. He is a member of the Environmental Clique, who believe that esper ability exists in all people and can be brought out by training. He was also treating Craye D'Courtney, whose personality was disintegrating under, to Atkins, unfounded guilt over child abandonment (the child being Reich). Powell consults him to determine if D'Courtney committed suicide, and in the process learns that Tate had asked him about D'Courtney, apparently on Reich's behalf. Jerry Church, Esper 2 (the "2" is struck through with a "/" in the original text) is an ostracized Esper who once helped Reich profit by reading the minds of business rivals. He runs a pawn shop, from which Reich obtains the gun he uses to kill D'Courtney. Reich made millions from Church, but Church lost everything. No Esper will even talk to him, let alone communicate with him telepathically. At one point in the book, he stands outside Powell's house, eavesdropping on the Esper party inside, so great is his need for that kind of contact. Powell detects him and offers him a drink, but Jerry resents his pity, throws it back at him and runs off. After the murder, Jerry passes on information about Barbara D'Courtney's whereabouts to Keno Quizzard, leading Reich to find her at Chooka Frood's just as Powell, alerted by his own investigation, arrives. Later, Keno's men attack his shop with him, Powell, and Tate inside. Tate, foreseeing that his criminal involvement will be his undoing, commits suicide by allowing himself to be destroyed by the effects of the harmonic gun. Powell persuades Jerry to turn against Reich, blaming him for the attack. Jerry's testimony about the gun purchase is