“I always assumed Paul made up the statistics. But even if they _are_ true, even if a few hundred thousand people decide to slip away every year, I am in favor of it. There are too many people as it is and most of them aren’t worth the room they take up. I suspect all this is just one of nature’s little devices to reduce the population ... like pederasty on those Greek islands.” “You’re outrageous.” “I’m perfectly rational which is more than I can say for you. Anyway, the reason I’ve come to see you today is, first, to warn you and, second, to say good-by.” “Good-by? You’re not....” “Going to kill myself?” she laughed. “Not in a hundred years ... though I must say lately I’ve begun to feel old. No, I’m going away. I’ve told Paul that I’ve had my fun, that you’re all on your own and that I want no part of what’s to come.” “Where will you go?” “Who knows? Now for the warning: Paul of course is furious at you and so is Iris.” “Perfectly understandable. What did he say?” “Nothing good. I talked to him this morning. I won’t enrage you by repeating all the expletives; it’s enough to say he’s eager to get you out of the way. He feels you’ve been a malcontent all along.” “He’ll have trouble getting me to take Stokharin’s magic pill.” “He may not leave it up to you,” said Clarissa significantly, and, inadvertently, I shuddered. I had of course wondered if they would dare go so far. I had doubted it but the matter-of-fact Clarissa enlightened me. “Watch out for him, especially if he becomes friendly. You must remember that with the country Cavite and with Paul in charge of the organization you haven’t much chance.” “I’ll take what I have.” Clarissa looked at me without, I could see, much hope; it was disagreeable. “What you don’t know, and this is my last good deed for in a sense I’m responsible for getting you into this, is that you accidentally gave the game away.” “What do you mean?” “I mean that Paul has been planning for over a year to do away with Cave. He feels that Cave’s usefulness is over; he’s also uneasy about letting him loose in the world. Paul wants full control of the establishment and he can’t have it while Cave lives. Paul also realizes ... he’s much cleverer than you’ve ever thought, by the way ... that the Cavites need a symbol, some great sacrifice and obviously Cave’s suicide is the answer. It is Paul’s intention either to get Cave to kill himself or else to do it for him and then announce that Cave, of his own free will, chose to die.” I had the brief sensation of a man drowning. “How do you know all this?” “I have two eyes; also, Iris told me.” “She knows too?” “Of course she knows! Why else do you think she’s so anxious to get Cave away from this place? She knows Paul can have him killed at any time and no one would be the wiser.”