ls and
news-photos, and, once in pre-war Berlin, its living double. Rudolf Hess.
He wondered how much deeper the resemblance went, and tried not to let it
prejudice him.

Nelda greeted him with a trowelful of sweetness and a dash of
bedroom-bait. Gladys waved him to a vacant seat at her right and summoned
the maid who had been serving breakfast. After Rand had indicated his
preference of fruit and found out what else there was to eat, he inquired
where the others were.

"Oh, Fred's still dressing; he'll be down in a minute," Nelda told him.
"And Geraldine won't; she never eats with her breakfast."

Varcek winced slightly at this, and shifted the subject by inquiring if
Rand were a professional antiques-expert.

"No, I'm a lily-pure amateur," Rand told him. "Or was until I took this
job. I have a collection of my own, and I'm supposed to be something of
an authority. My business is operating a private detective agency."

"But you are here only as an arms-expert?" Varcek inquired. "You are not
making any sort of detective investigation?"

"That's right," Rand assured him. "This is practically a paid vacation,
for me. First time I ever handled anything like this; it's a real
pleasure to be working at something I really enjoy, for a change."

Varcek nodded. "Yes, I can understand that. My own work, for instance. I
would continue with my research even if I were independently wealthy and
any sort of work were unnecessary."

"Tell Colonel Rand what you're working on now," Nelda urged.

Varcek gave a small mirthless laugh. "Oh, Colonel Rand would be no more
interested than I would be in his pistols," he objected, then turned to
Rand. "It is a series of experiments having to do with the chemical
nature of life," he said. Another perfunctory chuckle. "No, I am not
trying to re-create Frankenstein's monster. The fact is, I am working
with fruit flies."

"Something about heredity?" Rand wanted to know.

Varcek laughed again, with more amusement. "So! One says: 'Fruit flies,'
and immediately another thinks: 'Heredity.' It is practically a standard
response. Only, in this case, I am investigating the effect of diet
changes. I use fruit flies because of their extreme adaptability. If
I find that I am on the right track, I shall work with mice, next."

"Fred Dunmore mentioned a packaged diabetic ration you'd developed," Rand
mentioned.

"Oh, yes." Varcek shrugged. "Yes. Something like an Army field-ration,
for diabetics