"Unthinkable!" A shudder touched Mandleco's long, lean frame. "Out with it, man! What are you trying to say?" Beardsley was suddenly sweating. He felt as if a long tube were inside of him, hot and throbbing, reaching up with a surge of pulse to his temples. _It had to be now. He had to say it._ "Well," he gulped. "Just this, sir. I think the case can be cracked right now. Today. _Without_ ECAIAC." "Nonsense! Without ECAIAC? Why, that's--" "Sure. You think it's crazy. But I tell you _I_ can do it!" Beardsley's words came fast and urgent. "I've followed this case from the beginning, I processed it, I'm familiar with every angle. I tell you, _I can deliver the killer_. Give me permission to try!" Mandleco stared at Beardsley as if he were some queer specimen under a microscope; his mouth opened to speak, then he clamped his teeth tightly and strode away. He turned back abruptly. "So you think you have the solution. You actually--do--think it!" His eyes narrowed down, no longer amused, as he fixed the little serologist with a peculiar gaze. "Go on, Beardsley. Your suggestion at least has the novelty of imagination!" "The novelty of experience," Beardsley said bitterly. "_With your permission and co-operation_ I can solve this case, together with positive evidence that will hold up in any court! What's more, I'll do it today. A guarantee," Beardsley said pointedly, "which I dare say you no longer have from ECAIAC." * * * * * Mandleco stood quite motionless, trying to recall something. "Now I remember! You were with New York Homicide, weren't you, before promotion to Coördinates in '60? I recall passing on your record. Top record, too, for those days." Beardsley gestured impatiently. "How about it, sir? I know every pertinent fact of this case, plus a few of my own which haven't been tested in a dozen years. Not indexes and tubes and tapes--just facts! Fact and method! Let me apply them!" "I'm afraid it's not as simple as that, Beardsley. There _is_ ECAIAC, and public confidence must not be allowed--" "The public be damned," Beardsley caught himself. "All right--for appearance sake you can say the solution _came_ from ECAIAC. Let ECAIAC verify me later if you wish. I'm not after headlines and glory ... by heaven, sir, I'm offering you an _out_!" Mandleco pondered that. He glanced again at the confusion across the room, and realization seemed to hit him. Quite suddenly, then, he threw back his head and roared with laughter. "An out. And by heaven, Beardsley, I'm offering you a try! The idea appeals to me! Beardsley versus ECAIAC ... socio-archaism opposed to the _machina-ratiocinatrix_. Why, it's delicious!" He subsided to a rumble of mirth and wiped tears from his eyes. "So! Just what do you propose?" Beardsley saw nothing amusing. "I propose first, sir, that we reach an understanding. I'm to conduct the investigation my own way, without interference?" "You have my word! I never violate it."