Smith fell to running his hands through his hair again.
"Now, let's think!" he muttered. "There must be some logical explanation."
Logical explanations, Westervelt thought, are always the reasons other people think of, not me.
He found a space to sit on the edge of the empty desk. Simonetta leaned beside him, and Beryl wandered over to the window of the switchboard cubicle to listen as Pauline checked Rosenkrantz.
She shook her head to Smith's inquiring look.
Then Lydman strolled through the double doors.
"What's the conference about?" he asked.
Beryl let out a shriek. Her back had been to the corridor when she jumped, but she came down facing the other way.
Everyone stiffened.
Lydman stood quietly, regarding them with considerable calm.