"Well, Willie, did he have anything going?" asked Smith. "I ... uh ... he was kind of busy," said Westervelt. "What did he seem to have in mind?" Smith started to reach for Simonetta's phone switch. "He ... that is ... I didn't ask him. He was ... busy, in the lab." "Oh," said Smith. He peered at Westervelt's expression, and added, "Then ... perhaps we'd better not disturb him. It might spoil any ideas he's putting together." Westervelt managed a grunt of assent as he turned to walk back to his desk. _Whatever he's putting together_, he thought, _I'd rather stay out of the way._ He hunched over his desk, staring unseeingly at the notes he had scribbled earlier. He was vaguely conscious of the cessation of talk in the background, but he did not notice Simonetta's approach until the girl stood beside him. "What happened, Willie?" she asked. "You look as if he threw you out." "No. Not deliberately, anyhow," said Westervelt. "At least, I don't _think_ he knew I was even there--although how can you tell if he doesn't want to let on?" He told her what had happened in the laboratory. She nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose it has its uses," said Westervelt. "I hate to think of the way he plays around with things in there. Wasn't there a time when someone killed himself in that lab?" "That was years ago," said Simonetta. She hugged herself as if feeling a sudden chill, her large, soft eyes serious. Westervelt realized that she was actually a very beautiful girl, much more so than Beryl, and he wondered why he felt so differently about them. Simonetta seemed too nice to fit the ideas he got concerning Beryl. Something told him that his thinking was mixed up. _I guess you just grow out of that_, he reflected silently. _Maybe they're the same under the skin._ FIVE When Beryl walked in, Westervelt was at one of the tall windows with Simonetta, dialing filter combinations to make the most of the setting sun. They had the edge of it showing as a deep crimson ball beside another building in the vicinity. "What are you two doping out?" asked the blonde. "Some disappearing trick?" Simonetta laughed as Westervelt shoved the dial setting to afternoon normal. "It's an idea," he said, scowling at Beryl. "For underwater?" she demanded mockingly. "Ever hear of a squid?" retorted Westervelt. "_They_ hide themselves underwater. Maybe a cloud of dye would be as good as a filter." "Willie, that _is_ an idea!" said Simonetta. "You ought to tell Mr. Smith." Westervelt looked at her sourly. Now Beryl knew that they really had been wasting time, and had a point to score against him in their next exchange. _Oh, well. I can't hold a thing like that against Si_, he thought. _I can think of people who'd be on the way to Smitty already, calling it their own idea._ Beryl had done a ladylike collapse into her chair and crossed her legs. She dug into her purse for cigarettes and requested a light.