That explained everything-almost. No wonder Calindy had avoided him! In equal measure, Duncan felt jealousy, disappointment-and relief that
his maneuverings had, after all, been justified by events. 228 “T~ho is this Titanian?” he asked glumly. “I wonder if I know him.”
“That’s what I’ll be interested to hear. His name is Karl Helmer.”
A MESSAGE FROM TITAN
“That’s utterly impossible,” said Duncan, when he had recovered from the initial shock. “I left Helmer at Saturn-and I came here on the fastest ship in the Solar System.”
Mandel’stahm gave an expressive shrug.
“Then perhaps someone else is using that name, for reasons best known to himself. Miss Ellerman’s concierge is not very bright-they seldom are-and incidentally, we were lucky to get at it just before the regular end-of-month memory update. I got hold of the visual recognition coding, and here’s the reconstruction.”
He handed over the crude but perfectly adequate synthesis. Duncan could identify it as quickly as any robot pattern-detecting circuit.
Without question, it was Karl.
“So you know him,” said Mandel’stahm.
“Very well,” Duncan replied faintly. His mind was still in a whirl; even now, he could not fully believe the evidence of his eyes. It would take a long time for him to work out all the implications of this stun i g development.
“You said he was no longer at Cal-Miss Ellerman’s. Do you know where he is now?”
“No. I was hoping you might have some ideas. But now that we know the name,
I’ll be able to trace him -though if may take some time.”
And doubtless expense, thought Duncan. “Tell me, Mr. Mandel’stahm, why are you taking all this trouble? Frankly,
I don’t see what you hope to get out of it.”
“Don’t you? Well, it’s a good question. I certainly began this out of a pure and honest lust for titanite, and I hope that in due course my efforts will win their just reward. But now it’s gone beyond that. The only thing more valuable than gems or works of art is entertainment. And this little caper, Mr. Makenzie, is more interesting than anything I’ve seen on the viddy for weeks.”
Despite his gloomy preoccupations, Duncan could not help smiling. He had been cautious in his approach to Mandel’stahm, but now he was definitely beginning to feel genuine warmth toward the dealer. He was shrewd and perhaps even crafty, and Duncan did not doubt that he would drive a very hard bargain. But he was now quite convinced that George Washington was right: Ivor Mandel’stahm could be trusted implicitly, in all the things that really mattered.
“May I make a modest proposal?”
“Of course,” Duncan answered.
“Can you think of any reason at all, now that we’ve reached this stage, why you should not call Miss Ellerman, say that you’ve just heard from Titan that your mutual friend Mr. Helmer is on Earth-and does she know where he is?”
Duncan thought it over; the suggestion was so blatantly obvious that, in his somewhat dazed state, he had completely overlooked it. Even now, he was not sure that he could give it an accurate evaluation.
But the affair was no longer a matter of impersonal tactics and policy, to be worked out like the closing move of some chess game. For his own self-respect and peace of mind, it was time for a confrontation with
Calindy.
“You’re right,” he said. “There’s no reason at all why I shouldn’t call her. I’ll do so, just as soon as I can get back to the hotel. Let’s stop off at Union Station and take the express …… When Duncan
reached the hotel twenty minutes later (the “express” was somewhat misnamed) he had the second surprise of the day, though by now it was something of an anticlimax. The longest fax that Colin had ever sent him was waiting in the Comsole.
After the initial quick reading, Duncan’s first reaction was, “This time, at least, I’m one jump ahead.” But even that, he realized, was not quite true. When one allowed for the fact that Colin’s message had left Titan two hours ago, it was virtually a photo finish.
SECURITY AAA PRIORITY AAA
INQUIRIES MNEMOSYNE DISCLOSE KARL LEFT MID MARCH ON NONSKED EARTH
FLIGHT AND
ARRIVED APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOU. ARM AND PROFESSES SURPRISE
AND
TOTAL IGNORANCE. MAY BE TELLING TRUTH. IMPERATIVE YOU LOCATE KARL
FIND WHAT
HE IS DOING AND IF NECESSARY WARN HIM OF CONSEQUENCES. PROCEED WITH
EXTREME
CAUTION AS ANXIOUS AVOID PUBLICITY OR INTERPLANETARY COMPLICATIONS.
YOU
APPRECIATE THE SITUATION MAY BE TO OUR ADVANTAGE BUT DISCRETION
ESSENTIAL.
SUGGEST CALINDY MAY KNOW WHERE HE IS. COLIN AND MALCOLM.
Duncan reread the message more slowly, absorbing its nuances. It contained nothing that he did not now know, or had not already guessed; however, he did not relish its uncompromising tone. Being signed by both Colin and
Malcolm, it had the authority of a direct order-something rare indeed in
