"Perfectly satisfactory," Dudley said. "I'd like a few words in private with Alien McGivern, and then you can have him."
"Certainly."
Dudley closed the door after them. It was the first time he'd ever been able to face McGivern without being afraid of him, and he'd looked forward to this moment with intense pleasure. The expected blast of anger did not materialize, however. McGivern said quietly, "You're out of your mind."
"On the contrary, the longer I stay on Maylor the saner I seem to get."
"I suppose you realize that you're fired."
"I've already sent my resignation to the Indemnity."
"I won't accept it. You're fired. I feel a little sorry for you, Dudley. You've ruined what might have been a brilliant career. You'll never hold another job with an insurance company - I can promise you that."
"I already have one," Dudley said. "You're speaking with the new president of the about-to-be-chartered Maylorian Insurance Company. Since I'll have an absolute monopoly of this world's insurance business, I expect to do rather well. I also expect to create an insurance industry aimed at serving the people instead of itself."
"If there was a psychiatrist available I'd have you examined," McGivern said bitterly. "But I don't suppose this damned planet has one. You're sick. Something's happened to you."
Dudley nodded. "You're right. Something did happen to me. Today, for the first time in my entire career, you gave me your wholehearted approval for something I'd done. And all I had to do to get that approval was to ruthlessly exploit a double murder. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered what sort of business this is that downgrades my real accomplishments and rewards me for the worst thing I've ever done. Up to that moment I certainly needed a psychiatrist, but since then I've made a remarkable improvement. Perhaps it's the result of associating with people who aren't greedy or afraid and who have healthy minds." Dudley smiled complacently. "They're so grateful for this exposure of the infamous Galactic Insurance plot that they've given me a public appointment. I'm a member of a committee charged with the guardianship of public morals and customs, and I've already squelched the recommendation by an Alien engineer that Maylor City install one-way streets and traffic lanes." McGivern glared at him tight-lipped.
"I'm not - really - being too ruthless," Dudley murmured as he turned him over to the police.
They took McGivern away, and Dudley left immediately afterward and walked through the crush of rush-hour traffic toward the restaurant where Bakr had taken them that first night. The atmosphere would be sterile, and the food would be disgustingly bland, and this time Dudley expected to enjoy it.