"That's why I sent Cheng after you, when I thought that you were Thigpen: Tornelescu's notes mentioned that Thigpen had the code. It was a precaution they took, so that neither of them could betray the other."
"So?" Ross repeated.
"There's still a way out. That is, if you'll just help me." Mawson squirmed in his seat. Of a sudden his eyes were bright and feverish. "Look, Ross, here's how we'll work it: in your role of Security agent, you arrest me. I'll even go so far as to confess to murdering old Tornelescu.
"However, I'll also claim that Sanford Hall stole the papers from me. Consequently, I've no idea whatever where they are or what they say.
"I'll be convicted of killing. They'll send me off to Venus Barracks. In a Martian month the case will be past history.
"That's where you come in, Ross: right then. My conviction will be another feather in your cap. No one would think of suspecting you of anything, let alone denying you full access to Security's files on the case.
"So, you go into those files and dig through them till you find the code. For all I know, it may even be in your property rooms here in Calor City. Because if Lewis Thigpen's dead—and he must be, or you wouldn't have dared to use his name—then all his things will likely be there.
"Then, when you find the code, contact me. I'll tell you where I've hidden the formula: that's how much I trust you.
"You make up a batch of the catalyst. You put it out to the old men, the men of power."
"I'll be free of Venus Barracks in a week. After that—who knows? What limit can there be, when we've eternal life ourselves, plus the privilege of peddling it to others in hundred-year doses?"