His extensive business empire, managed by Jehan Addels, includes "Cosmopolis" magazine, for which he often masquerades as the journalist "Henry Lucas". Gersen spends some time examining the "Cosmopolis" files for any material relating to Treesong. He is on the point of giving up when he discovers a photograph, apparently of a formal dinner, bearing the words "H A Treesong is here". There is no way to tell which of the people in the picture is Treesong, so Gersen devises a plan to unmask him. He launches "Extant", a livelier sister magazine to "Cosmopolis". He then publishes the picture in the free inaugural issue as part of a contest, offering large cash prizes to anyone who can first identify any or all of the ten people in the photograph.