brush-off

Updated: June 21, 2025

"There surely must be somebody else.... After all, you'll have to admit that this isn't the sort of work this agency handles." The would-be client released a series of smoke-rings and watched them float up toward the air-outlet at the office ceiling. It spoke well for Rand's ability to subordinate esthetic to business considerations that he was trying to give her a courteous and humane brush-off.

H. Beam Piper - Murder in the Gunroom