Westervelt admired Beryl's wide-eyed intentness.
"Finally," Simonetta continued, "his appearance changed so much that he could dress up and pass for a woman anywhere. He just walked out when the next scheduled spaceship landed, and was halfway back to Terra before they finished searching the woods for him. It made trouble, though."
"What happened?" breathed Beryl.
"They never quite succeeded in changing him back. His wife wound up divorcing him for infidelity when he gave birth to twins."
Beryl straightened up abruptly.
"Oh...! You—come on, now!"
Westervelt reminded himself that the blush must have resulted less from the joke than from having been taken in. They were still laughing when a buzzer sounded at Beryl's desk phone. She flipped the switch, listened for a moment, then rose with a toss of her blonde head at Westervelt.
"Mr. Parrish wants me to help him research in the dead files," she said. "I bet he won't try that kind of gag on me!"
"No," muttered Westervelt as she strode out, "he has some all his own."
He looked up to find Simonetta watching him with a grin. She shook her head ruefully as Westervelt grew a flush to match Beryl's.