, Mrs. Carmack? Answer me! You loved your husband, didn't you? For
the past ten minutes you've heard him maligned; I should think you'd
want to protect his very good name!"

"Sheila, I must advise you against making _any_ statement of whatever
nature!" Mandleco strode for the tele-stat, then turned back and pointed
a trembling finger at Beardsley. "This man," he choked--"this man is no
longer acting in any official capacity for Crime-Central!"

With a quick step Pederson got himself between Mandleco and the
tele-stat; he strolled over to the instrument and leaned against it,
with a knowing look at Beardsley.

Sheila Carmack tilted her chin in defiance. "But I _wish_ to answer this
man. I insist on answering! Loved Amos Carmack? Love him?" Her voice
rose a full octave and broke in stridence. "For the past nine years I
have _hated--his--guts_!"

* * * * *

For a long moment the room was silent. No one moved. Beardsley's thick
glasses glinted eerily as he peered around at them, from Mandleco to
Sheila to Pederson and back to Mandleco.

"Well now," he said, "this is remarkable. Most remarkable! Everyone
hated Carmack. Professor Losch--we know why. Pederson here--he's told us
why. His wife--I think it's obvious. Who else? Surely not you, Mandleco!
Carmack was a pal of yours! You backed his cause with ECAIAC, you
lobbied for him, you even stole patents for him.... I wonder what
persuasion he held over you to bring all that about. Or is _persuasion_
too mild a word? Vintage '60 had a better term for it!"

Slowly, through the murk of his agitation Mandleco seized a measure of
control; he gazed at Beardsley out of cold incalculable eyes now hooded
with dire intention. "You're really trying hard, aren't you!" he grated.
"Well, make the most of it, because I guarantee _you_ won't be around,
not after the next Annual Basic! Do you understand that--_Mister_
Cooerdinator?"

But Beardsley was watching Pederson now, whose face took on a sudden
febrile gleam. "Blackmail ... by God, Beardsley, that's it! And I have
the proof! Sure, it was Carmack I was after, but I dug out a lot more--"
Pederson shot a challenging look at the Minister of Justice. "It goes
back some years, but I can prove that Amos Carmack had enough on
Mandleco to _finish him politically any time he chose_. You can bet your
life Mandleco hated him. Enough to warrant murder!"

There was an odd, illogical delight in the way Pederson