Lewis nodded. "Fine," he said. "And, if you should have any
difficulties with the material, please let me know. I'll always be
glad to help."

"Thanks for your co-operation," Malone said. He went to the door, and
walked on out.

He blundered back into the same big room again, on his way through the
corridors. The bulbous-eyed woman, who seemed to have inherited a full
set of thirty-two teeth from each of her parents, gave him a friendly
if somewhat crowded smile, but Malone pressed on without a word. After
awhile, he found the reception room again.

The girl behind the desk looked up. "How did he react?" she said.

Malone blinked. "React?" he said.

"When you sneezed at him," she said. "Because I've been thinking it
over, and I've got a new theory. You're doing a survey on how people
act when encountering sneezes. Like Kinsey."

This girl--Lou something, Malone thought, and with difficulty
refrained from adding "Gehrig"--had an unusual effect, he decided. He
wondered if there were anyone in the world she couldn't reduce to
paralyzed silence.

"Of course," she went on, "Kinsey was dealing with sex, and you
aren't. At least, you aren't during business hours." She smiled
politely at Malone.

"No," he said helplessly, "I'm not."

"It is sneezing, then," she said. "Will I be in the book when it's
published?"

"Book?" Malone said, feeling more and more like a rather low-grade
moron.

"The book on sneezing, when you get it published," she said. "I can
see it now: _The Case of Miss X, a Receptionist_."

"There isn't going to be any book," Malone said.

She shook her head. "That's a shame," she said. "I've always wanted to
be a Miss X. It sounds exciting."

"X," Malone said at random, "marks the spot."

"Why, that's the sweetest thing that's been said to me all day," the
girl said. "I thought you could hardly talk, and here you come out
with lovely things like that. But I'll bet you say it to all the
girls."

"I have never said it to anybody before," Malone said flatly. "And I
never will again."

The girl sighed. "I'll treasure it," she said. "My one great moment.
Goodbye, Mr.--Malone, isn't it?"

"Ken," Malone said. "Just call me Ken."

"And I'm Lou," the girl said. "Goodbye."

An elevator arrived and Malone ducked into it. Louie? he thought.
Louise? Luke? Of course, there was Sir Lewis Carter, who might be
called Lou. Was he related to the girl?

No, Malone thought wildly. Relations went by last