omeone or something else.

"His first choice was Snookums. It occurred to him that he could take
advantage of the fact that I'm called 'Mike the Angel.' He borrowed
Mellon's books and began pumping theology into Snookums. He figured that
would be safe enough. Mellon would certainly lend him the books if he
pretended an interest in religion; if anything came out afterward, he
could--he thought--claim that Snookums got hold of the books without his
knowing it. And that sort of muddy thinking is typical of our killer.

"He told Snookums that I was an angel, you see. I couldn't be either
hurt or killed. He protected himself, of course, by telling Snookums
that he mustn't reveal his source of data. If Snookums told, then the
killer would be punished--and that effectively shut Snookums up. He
couldn't talk without violating the First Law.

"Unfortunately, the killer couldn't get Snookums to do away with me.
Snookums knew perfectly well that an angel can blast anything at
will--through the operation of God. Witness what happened at Sodom and
Gomorrah. Remember that Snookums has accepted all this data as _fact_.

"Now, if an angel can kill, it is obvious that Snookums would not dare
attack an angel, especially if he had been ordered to do so by a human."

"Just a minute, Commander," said Dr. Fitzhugh, corrugating his face in a
frown. "That doesn't hold. Even if an angel _could_ blast him, Snookums
would attack if ordered to do so. The Second Law of obedience supersedes
the Third Law of self-preservation."

"You're forgetting one thing, Doctor. An angel of God would _know_ who
had ordered the attack. It would be the human who ordered the attack,
not Snookums, who would be struck by Heavenly Justice. And the First Law
supersedes the Second."

Fitzhugh nodded. "You're right, of course."

"Very well, then," Mike continued, "since the killer could not get
Snookums to do me in, he had to find another tool. He picked Lieutenant
Mellon.

"He figured that Mellon was in love with Leda Crannon. Maybe he was; I
don't know. He figured that Mellon, knowing that I was showing Miss
Crannon attention, would, under the influence of the lysurgic acid
derivative, try to kill me. He may even have suggested it to Mellon
after Mellon had taken a dose of the drugged wine.

"But that plan backfired, too. Mellon didn't have that kind of mind. He
knew my attentions and my intentions were honorable, if you'll pardon
the old-fashioned language.