I mashed out my cigarette.
"So he got his own counterfeit back to counterfeit?"
"Precisely. Which placed him in a very awkward position. There he was with the real thing, working on an improved counterfeit, now that he had something better than photos and descriptions to go on, and the UN approached him to duplicate his original work."
"Wait! He had the real one? I thought the guard had taken the real one."
"I was just getting to that. The guard removed it and transported it to Professor Byler. Byler was afraid that the first counterfeit would not stand close scrutiny, especially from some visiting alien who might have seen it elsewhere and known something concerning its physical makeup-something which perhaps only an alien could detect. At any rate, his intention was to produce a superior replica the second time around and then have the same guard try to exchange it for his earlier model. The second version, he believed, could stand scrutiny for a much longer while. So he was faced with a dilemma at that point: Give them back the first one and a copy, or give them two of the second-generation stones of which he was quite proud. He resolved it by returning the first one and a copy, as he feared the authorities might by then have done a detailed study of its properties and have them on record as its authentic specifications."
I shook my head.
"But why? Why go through the whole rigamarole in the first place?"
Ragma put out his cigarette and sighed.
"The man possesses a powerful emotional commitment to the British monarchy-"
"The crown jewels!" I said.
"Exactly. The star-stone came and they went. He was obsessed by their departure, by what he considered the unfairness of the deal, the insult to the sovereign."
"But they are, in effect, still theirs and still available. The British approved their indefinite loan under those terms."
"We both seem to see it that way," Ragma said. "He does not. Neither do some of those-such as the guard-who cooperated with him in the venture."
"What, specifically, did they plan on doing?"
"Their intention was to wait for a time, until your relations with the other races had broadened and the benefits of this association had become firmly fixed in the public mind. At that point they would announce that the starstone was a fake-a fact readily verifiable by extraterrestrial authorities-and then proclaim that they were holding the real one to ransom. The price, of course, was to be the return of the crown jewels."
"So a screwball group was behind it. That even explains a certain toast I overheard in my apartment. They were doubtless waiting to question me, to learn where to go to steal it back again."
"Yes. They have been looking for you. But then we have them under surveillance. They are more a nuisance than a threat, actually, and they might possibly even help us to locate the stone if we leave them unmolested. This seems enough to offset the inconveniences involved."
"What would have happened if everything had gone as they planned it?"
"If the scheme succeeded, then the Earth would be expelled from the trading cycle and probably be blacklisted for normal trade, tourism and cultural and scientific exchanges. It would also seriously impair your chances of eventually being invited to join the formal confederation we possess, an organization roughly equivalent to your own United Nations."
"And an intelligent man like Paul can't understand this? It makes me wonder whether we are ready for something of that scope."
"Oh, he does now. He is the one who gave us all the details as to what had occurred. And do not be too hard on him. Matters of sentiment are seldom mediated by the intellect."
"What happened in his case, anyway? I had heard that he had been killed."
"He had been attacked and severely abused, but police happened on the scene just as his assailants were departing. They possessed medical equipment to supply immediate emergency aid, and they rushed him to a facility where he underwent a number of organ implants, all of which proved successful. Thereafter, he contacted the authorities and told the entire story. His change of heart was prompted by the fact that his attackers had formerly been associates of his."
"Zeemeister and Buckler," I said, "did not strike me as the sort whose intellects are mediated by sentiment."
"True. They are, basically, hoodlums. Until recently their major activities had involved organ procurement and smuggling. Before that they had done many other illicit things, but organs seem to have been going well recently. They were involved in the theft of the star-stone for monetary rather than idealistic reasons. None of the other members of the conspiracy were criminals in the professional sense of the term. This was why they hired Zeemeister-to plan the theft for them. His ultimate design, however, involved a brace of roods-"
"Doublecross," I said, lighting another cigarette for him.
"Just so. He intended to appropriate the stone for himself somewhere along the line and restore it to the authorities in return for money and immunity from prosecution."
"If that were to happen, how would it affect our chances with respect to eventual membership in the confederation?"
"It would not be as harmful as the use of it for the recovery of the crown jewels," he said. "So long as you have it ready to pass along at the appropriate time, any intervening problems concerning its maintenance are your own concern."
"Then what is your real part in this affair?"
"I do not like to look at things so terribly strictly," he said. "You are new to the game, and I want to see that you get every break possible. I would like to see the stone recovered and the entire incident forgotten."
"Decent of you," I said, "so I will try to be reasonable. I assume that Paul retained the original stone and that he has told you he believes it passed into our custody during a certain card party in his lab."
"That is correct."
"So Hal and I possibly, even probably, had it in our apartment for a time. And then it vanished."
"So it would seem."
"What then, specifically, would you want me to do about it if I took this job?"
"Of first importance," he said, "since you do not wish to go offworld to be examined by a telepathic analyst and since Sibla's qualifications do not meet with your approval, I would like you to consent to the procedure in the case of my bringing a qualified person here to Earth."
"So you still think a clue might be locked away somewhere in my mind?"
"We have to admit the possibility, do we not?"
"Yes. I guess we do. What about Hal? Maybe he has something at some buried level, too."
"There is that possibility also, though I am inclined to believe him when he insists as he does that he left the stone behind. However, he has just recently given his consent to Mister Nadler to go along with any sort of mind-probing technique that may be of help."
"Then I do, too. Bring on your analyst. Just so he knows his business and is in no position to lock me away on another world."
"All right. That is settled, then. Does it mean you are accepting the job?"
"Why not? I might as well get paid for it-especially if the checks will be coming from the people who messed up my normal means of livelihood."
"Then we will leave it at that for now. It will require several days for the transportation of the analyst I have located. For now, Mister Nadler has some forms and such for your signature. While you are dealing with these, I will be setting up a unit we have brought along."
"What sort of equipment is it?"
"Your leg healed up nicely, did it not?"
"Yes."
"I am prepared to do the same for your chest wound. You should be able to leave here this evening."
"That would be most welcome. Then what?"
"Then you have only to remain out of trouble for a few days. This can be achieved either by locking you up or by keeping you under reasonable surveillance, with the understanding that you will seek to avoid troublesome situations. I assume you would prefer the latter."