body's business except your own?"

"He is an early-morning grouch," James explained, as they sat down at
the table. "Not fit to associate with man or beast--not even his own
dog, if he had one--when he first gets up. How come you were smart
enough to get the answer so quick, Brownie?"

"Oh, the pattern isn't too rare." She shrugged daintily, sweeping the
compliment aside. "Especially among men on big jobs who work under
tremendous pressure."

"Then how about Jim?" Belle asked.

"Clee's the Big Brain, not me," James said.

"You're a lot Bigger Brain than any of the men Lola's talking about,"
Belle insisted.

"That's true," Lola agreed, "but Jim probably is--must be--an icebox
raider. Eats in the middle of the night. Clee probably doesn't. It's a
good bet that he doesn't nibble between meals at all. Check, Clee?"

"Check. But what has an empty stomach got to do with the case?"

"Everything. Nobody knows how. Lots of theories--enzymes, blood sugar,
endocrine balance, what have you--but no proof. It isn't always true.
However, six or seven hours of empty stomach, in a man who takes his job
to bed with him, is very apt to uglify his pre-breakfast disposition."

Breakfast over and out in the Main:

"But when a man's disposition is ugly all the time, how can you tell the
difference?" Belle asked, innocently.

"I'll let that pass," Garlock's smile disappeared, "because we've got
work to do. Have any of you thought of any improvement on Lola's
monogamous society?"

No one had. In fact--

"There may be a loop-hole in it," Lola said, thoughtfully. "Did any of
you happen to notice whether they know anything about artificial
insemination?"

"D'you think I'd stand for _that_?" Belle blazed, before Garlock could
begin to search his mind. "I'd scratch anybody's eyes out--if you'd
thought of that idea as a woman instead of as a near-Ph.D. in
anthropology you'd've thrown it into the converter before it even
hatched!"

"Invasion of privacy? That covers it, of course, but I didn't think it
would bother you a bit." Lola paused, studying the other girl intently.
"You're quite a problem yourself. Callous--utterly savage humor--yet
very sensitive in some ways--fastidious...."

"I'm not on the table for dissection!" Belle snapped. "Study me all you
please, but keep the notes in your notebook. I'd suggest you study
Clee."

"Oh, I have been. He baffles me, too. I'm not very good yet, you...."

"That's the unders...."

"_