credible!" Thrombley murmured.

I wondered what he'd say if I told him that I thought it was
deliberate.

"Naturally, I spent some time on the ship reading up on this planet, but
I know practically nothing about what's been going on here in, say, the
last year. And all I know about the death of Mr. Cumshaw is that he is
said to have been killed by three brothers named Bonney."

"So you'll want just about everything, Mr. Silk," Thrombley said.
"Really, I don't know where to begin."

"Start with why and how Mr. Cumshaw was killed. The rest, I believe,
will key into that."

So they began; Thrombley, Stonehenge and Parros doing the talking. It
came to this:

Ever since we had first established an Embassy on New Texas, the goal of
our diplomacy on this planet had been to secure it into the Solar
League. And it was a goal which seemed very little closer to realization
now than it had been twenty-three years before.

"You must know, by now, what politics on this planet are like, Mr.
Silk," Thrombley said.

"I have an idea. One Ambassador gone native, another gone crazy, the
third killed himself, the fourth murdered."

"Yes, indeed. I've been here fifteen years, myself...."

"That's entirely too long for anybody to be stationed in this place," I
told him. "If I'm not murdered, myself, in the next couple of weeks, I'm
going to see that you and any other member of this staff who's been here
over ten years are rotated home for a tour of duty at Department
Headquarters."

"Oh, would you, Mr. Silk? I would be so happy...."

Thrombley wasn't much in the way of an ally, but at least he had a
sound, selfish motive for helping me stay alive. I assured him I would
get him sent back to Luna, and then went on with the discussion.

Up until six months ago, Silas Cumshaw had modeled himself after the
typical New Texas politician. He had always worn at least two faces, and
had always managed to place himself on every side of every issue at
once. Nothing he ever said could possibly be construed as controversial.
Naturally, the cause of New Texan annexation to the Solar League had
made no progress whatever.

Then, one evening, at a banquet, he had executed a complete 180-degree
turn, delivering a speech in which he proclaimed that union with the
Solar League was the only possible way in which New Texans could retain
even a vestige of local sovereignty. He had talked about an invasion as
though the enemy's ships were already co