"Consul Whaffle was an extremely busy man," Miss Meuhl said stiffly. "He had complete confidence in me."
"Since I'm cutting out the culture from now on," Retief said, "I won't be so busy."
"Well!" Miss Meuhl said. "May I ask where you'll be if something comes up?"
"I'm going over to the Foreign Office Archives."
Miss Meuhl blinked behind thick lenses. "Whatever for?"
Retief looked thoughtfully at Miss Meuhl. "You've been here on Groac for four years, Miss Meuhl. What was behind the coup d'etat that put the present government in power?"
"I'm sure I haven't pried into—"
"What about that Terrestrial cruiser? The one that disappeared out this way about ten years back?"
"Mr. Retief, those are just the sort of questions we avoid with the Groaci. I certainly hope you're not thinking of openly intruding—"
"Why?"