Chapter 36. The wheels of the wingless auto gyro had no sooner set down upon the roof of the

Westing Mansion than the flying squirrel had leapt from her seat in the rear of the craft,

and landed in a crouch with a silent grace that would have left any unfortunate sentry, breathless.

For the few seconds they still stood. She strode across the open space with three

soft, long leaps, turning with each moment to take in every blind spot created by the bricks and

mortar of the old building. It took her only the few moments that the Red Panda spent

securing the vehicle to establish that the roof was otherwise unoccupied.

She pulled her flight goggles to the top of her cowl and turned back to face him, her athletic

form still a picture of readiness.

"'Quiet, ain't it?' she said, the bob of red hair that hung behind her, waving slightly

in the wind of the slowing rotor blades. The Red Panda

looked at her as he approached. There was always a fire in her eyes, but before a fight it

burned with a special intensity. He was nearly a foot taller and 70 pounds heavier than her,

and there was no mistaking just who was the master hypnotist with the spooky blank eyes in his mask.

Still, he never wondered why many of the foes they faced seemed even more afraid of her.

It did not occur to him until it was too late that he had been looking her in the eyes a little too

long to pretend it hadn't happened. She drew herself to her full height as he approached, almost

as if he had challenged her somehow. He stopped just a foot away from her. The blades of the

auto-gyro had almost stopped and the silence of the night was all but total. For a moment

neither of them spoke. "'Hi,' she said blinking first. "'Hello,' he said, blinking first.

"'Hello,' he said, trying not to smile.

"'You ready for this?' "'Not at all,' he said seriously.

...