tten soul of
yours, I suppose you'll be gloating at how you made fools of us. The
only man on board who was safe even from a lottery, and we couldn't
see it. Jenny, I hope you'll be happy with this butcher. Very happy!"

He never blinked. "Say that about the only safe man aboard again," he
suggested.

I repeated it, with details. But he didn't like my account. He turned
to Eve, and motioned for her to take it up. She was frowning harder,
and her voice was uncertain, but she summed up our reasons quickly
enough.

And suddenly Muller was on his feet. "Mr. Tremaine, for a damned
idiot, you have a good brain. You found the key to the problem, even
if you couldn't find the lock. Do you know what happens to a captain
who permits a death lottery, even what I called a legal one? He
doesn't captain a liner--he shoots himself after he delivers his ship,
if he's wise! Come on, we'll find the one indispensable man. You stay
here, Jenny--you too, Eve!"

Jenny whimpered, but stayed. Eve followed, and he made no comment. And
then it hit me. The man who had _thought_ he was indispensable, and
hence safe--the man I'd naturally known in the back of my head could
be replaced, though no one else had known it until a little while ago.

"He must have been sick when you ran me in as a ringer," I said, as we
walked down toward the engine hatch. "But why?"

"I've just had a wild guess as to part of it," Muller said.

* * * * *

Wilcox was listening to the Buxtehude when we shoved the door of his
room open, and he had his head back and eyes closed. He snapped to
attention, and reached out with one hand toward a drawer beside him.
Then he dropped his arm and stood up, to cut off the tape player.

"Mr. Wilcox," Muller said quietly, holding the gun firmly on the
engineer. "Mr. Wilcox, I've detected evidence of some of the Venus
drugs on your two assistants for some time. It's rather hard to miss
the signs in their eyes. I've also known that Mr. Grundy was an
addict. I assumed that they were getting it from him naturally. And as
long as they performed their duties, I couldn't be choosy on an old
ship like this. But for an officer to furnish such drugs--and to
smuggle them from Venus for sale to other planets--is something I
cannot tolerate. It will make things much simpler if you will
surrender those drugs to me. I presume you keep them in those bottles
of wine you bring aboard?"

Wilcox shook his head slo