rriedly downstairs to the basement library.

"That stuff I asked you to get together for me by tomorrow, Ruthie,"
she said to the gray-haired librarian. "You wouldn't by any chance
have already done it, would you?"

"Funny you should ask." The elderly woman bobbed down behind the
counter and popped back up with an armload of magazines and
newspapers. "Just happened to have some free time last thing
yesterday. It's already charged out to you, so you just go right ahead
and take it, dearie."

* * * * *

It was 8:30 when Lucilla reached the office.

"When I need you, where are you?" G.G. asked sourly. "Learned last
night that the top dog at Karry Karton Korporation is in town today,
so they've pushed that conference up from Friday to ten this morning.
If you'd been here early--or even on time--we might at least have
gotten some of the information together."

Lucilla laid the stack of material on his desk. "I haven't had time to
flag the pages yet," she said, "but they're listed on the library
request on top. We did nineteen ads for KK last year and three of
premium offers. I stopped by Sales on my way in--Susie's digging out
figures for you now."

"Hm-m-m," said G.G. "Well. So that's where you've been. You could at
least have let me know." There was grudging approval beneath his
gruffness. "Say, how'd you know I needed this today, anyhow?"

"Didn't," said Lucilla, putting her purse away and whisking the cover off
her typewriter. "Happenstance, that's all." (Just happened to go down to
the library ... for no reason at all ... withholding something ... get out
of the way....) The telephone's demand for attention overrode her
thoughts. She reached for it almost gratefully. "Mr. Hoskins' office," she
said. "Yes. Yes, he knows about the ten o'clock meeting this morning.
Thanks for calling, anyway." She hung up and glanced at G.G., but he was
so immersed in one of the magazines that the ringing telephone hadn't even
disturbed him. Ringing? The last thing she did before she left the office
each night was set the lever in the instrument's base to "off," so that
the bell would not disturb G.G. if he worked late. So far today, nobody
had set it back to "on."

* * * * *

"It's getting worse," she said miserably to the pale blue ceiling.
"The phone didn't ring this morning--it couldn't have--but I answered
it." Dr. Andrews said nothing at all. She let her eyes f