“I know, darling,” she murmured. He thought he heard her laugh before she went to sleep. At last he fell asleep. V For the next few days Talbot was feverishly busy. Just what inner drives had dominated Soleri and how would he have reacted to any given situation? What had been his precise relationships with the people Talbot would be meeting daily? Fortunately there was an accumulation of recorded calls and messages. He played and re-played them. He subscribed to a clipping service and pieced together a fairly complete account of Soleri’s social activities. * * * * * There were other rewarding sources. He scanned minutes of TRANSPORTATION meetings. He examined financial statements to give himself another sidelight on the life he had usurped. Pictures, letters--even the apartment--added to his growing knowledge. Handwriting presented no difficulty. He found Soleri’s signature, and duplicated it on second trial. Soon he didn’t even have to try--it became second nature to him to forge Soleri’s name on letters and documents. Mannerisms came easily too. Ways of walking, the quick thoughtful smile that appeared at intervals, the clothes he wore and how he wore them---all these distinguishing characteristics he copied with little conscious effort. He was as much Soleri as another person could be. He rested and regained his strength, painstakingly sharpening himself until he was ready. Randy appeared frequently on the call plate, keeping him informed of what went on at the plant. But she didn’t return to the apartment. He would have rejoiced in her presence but he didn’t ask her. It would have meant taking a dangerous, unnecessary risk. Finally he went back to work, nodding cheerfully to the receptionist in the outer office as he turned left at the stairs. There was no trace of damage in his private office. It had been rebuilt and refurnished and was now exactly as he remembered it. Randy came in at once, cool and beautiful. “I told Frescura you’d like to see him,” she said. “He’ll be in his lab until noon.” Frescura, the famous heat and rocket scientist! He’d have to handle that interview with care. He had no way of knowing how much technical information the man had imparted to Soleri. “I’ll see him but I hadn’t planned on it until later,” he said. It was a false statement, but there was no need to take her completely into his confidence. “I’m sorry,” she said with feigned meekness. “I was trying to anticipate.” He knew that she was actively hating him for Eleanor. He’d have to find some way to ease the tension. But at the moment other problems loomed more urgently. He became expediently stern. “Forget the secretarial pose,” he growled. “You’re a psychologist. Your job is to find out who is resorting to deliberate sabotage in the plant. What does plant protection say about the thermal bomb?”