In the small conference room in the main building, Tamwile Elar listened to Dors Venabili with a gathering look of confusion and anger on his face. Finally he burst out, “Impossible!”

He rubbed his chin, then went on cautiously, “I don’t mean to offend you, Dr. Venabili, but your suggestions are ridic—cannot be right. There’s no way in which anyone can think that there are, in this Psychohistory Project, any feelings so deadly as to justify your suspicions. I would certainly know if there were and I assure you there are not. Don’t think it.”

“I do think it,” said Dors stubbornly, “and I can find evidence for it.”

Elar said, “I don’t know how to say this without offense, Dr. Venabili, but if a person is ingenious enough and intent enough on proving something, he or she can find all the evidence he or she wants—or, at least, something he or she believes is evidence.”

“Do you think I’m paranoid?”

“I think that in your concern for the Maestro—something in which I’m with you all the way—you’re, shall we say, overheated.”

Dors paused and considered Elar’s statement. “At least you’re right that a person with sufficient ingenuity can find evidence anywhere. I can build a case against you, for instance.”

Elar’s eyes widened as he stared at her in total astonishment. “Against me? I would like to hear what case you can possibly have against me.”

“Very well. You shall. The birthday party was your idea, wasn’t it?”

Elar said, “I thought of it, yes, but I’m sure others did, too. With the Maestro moaning about his advancing years, it seemed a natural way of cheering him up.”

“I’m sure others may have thought of it, but it was you who actually pressed the issue and got my daughter-in-law fired up about it. She took over the details and you persuaded her that it was possible to put together a really large celebration. Isn’t that so?”

“I don’t know if I had any influence on her, but even if I did, what’s wrong with that?”

“In itself, nothing, but in setting up so large and widespread and prolonged a celebration, were we not advertising to the rather unstable and suspicious men of the junta that Hari was too popular and might be a danger to them?”

“No one could possibly believe such a thing was in my mind.”

Dors said, “I am merely pointing out the possibility. —In planning the birthday celebration, you insisted that the central offices be cleared out—”

“Temporarily. For obvious reasons.”

“—and insisted that they remain totally unoccupied for a while. No work was done—except by Yugo Amaryl—during that time.”

“I didn’t think it would hurt if the Maestro had some rest in advance of the party. Surely you can’t complain about that.”

“But it meant that you could consult with other people in the empty offices and do so in total privacy. The offices are, of course, well shielded.”

“I did consult there—with your