Smith turned to Beryl.
"What I meant by asking your co-operation," he said, "is that we'll need to have someone with Mr. Lydman most of the time. Willie has been doing it until now, but we don't want it to look like deliberate surveillance."
"But why?" asked Beryl. "I mean ... I see that it worries all of you that ... that he might find out. But what if he does?"
"Possibly nothing," answered Smith. "On the other hand, Mr. Lydman was once imprisoned, in his space traveling days. He was held for a long time under very trying conditions; and the experience has left him with a problem. It is not exactly claustrophobia...."
He paused, as if to let Beryl recall other remarks about Lydman. Their general air of gravity seemed to impress her.
"I'll be ... glad to help," she said reluctantly.
"Fine!" said Smith. "Probably nothing will be necessary. Now, I think we had better go in and tell Si, so that everyone will be alerted to the situation."
Westervelt caught the glance that passed between Parrish and Beryl. He was almost certain that each of them was mentally counting the people who had known before they had been told.
That's what you get for being so busy in the dead files, he thought.
They trouped in behind Smith. Simonetta watched as if they had been a parade. Smith, with an occasional comment from Parrish, told her the story.