d shorter
than either Temple or Lucy. "Don't waste your words, Sophia. Temple
overheard us."

_Sophia?_ thought Temple. "Sophia?" he said.

Charles nodded coolly. "The real Mrs. Temple was observed, studied,
her every habit and whim catalogued by experts. A plastic surgeon, a
psychologist, a sociologist, a linguist, a whole battery of experts
molded Sophia here into a new Mrs. Temple. I must congratulate them,
for you never suspected."

"Lucy?" Temple demanded dully. Reason stood suspended in a limbo of
objective acceptance and subjective disbelief.

"Mrs. Temple was eliminated. Regrettable because we don't deal in
senseless mayhem, but necessary."

Temple was not aware of leaving limbo until he felt the bruising
contact of his knuckles with Charles' jaw. The short man toppled, fell
at his feet. "Get up!" Temple cried, then changed his mind and tensed
himself to leap upon the prone figure.

"Hold it," Charles told him quietly, wiping blood from his lips with
one hand, drawing an automatic from his pocket with the other. "You'd
better freeze, Temple. You die if you don't."

* * * * *

Temple froze, watched Charles slither away across the high-piled green
carpet until, safely away across the room, he came upright groggily.
He turned to the dead Lucy's double. "What do you think, Sophia?"

"I don't know. We could get out of here, probably get along without
the final information."

"That isn't what I mean. Naturally, we'll never receive the final
facts. I mean, what do you think about Temple?"

Sophia said she didn't know.

"Left alone, he would go to the police. Kidnapped, he would be worse
than useless. Harmful, actually, for the authorities would suspect
something. Even worse if we killed him. The point is, we don't want
the authorities to think Temple gave information to anybody."

"Gave is hardly the word," said Sophia. "I was a good wife, but also a
good gleaner. One hundred thousand dollars, Charles."

"You bitch," Temple said.

"Later," Charles told the woman. "The solution is this, Sophia: we
must kill Temple, but it must look like suicide."

Sophia frowned in pretty concern. "Do we have to ... kill him?"

"What's the matter, my dear? Have you been playing the wifely role too
long? If Temple stands in the way of Red Empire, Temple must die."

Temple edged forward.

"Uh-uh," said Charles, "mustn't." He waved the automatic and Temple
subsided.

"Is that right?