Beardsley had expected something like this, and he was quite ready to answer; but he carefully removed his glasses, massaged the bridge of his nose and frowned. "Well, now...."
"Come on, give! I know it's against protocol and all that ... but hell! We'll have the answer anyway in a matter of hours."
Beardsley nodded with a show of thoughtfulness. "Yes, that's true, isn't it? Very well. But strictly off the record! I warn you--not only will the first Prime startle you, but the information could be dangerous!"
He waited a moment, then he leaned forward and whispered: "Mandleco!"
For a moment Arnold didn't move. His face was ludicrous. Then Beardsley saw his hands clench.
"Mandleco!" the word jolted from his lips. "George Mandleco, Minister of Justice? I don't believe you!"
"It's a fact," Beardsley told him. "Right now he equates into an uncertain Prime."
"Yes, yes ... but Mandleco! Good Lord...."
"I said _uncertain_ Prime. As you mentioned yourself, there is sure to be a shift of variants. Surely you have faith in ECAIAC?"
"Why not? He was a friend of Carmack's--or a business associate shall we say? He worked with Carmack on the ECAIAC lobby, was largely responsible for pushing it through."
"Yes, I--say, that's right! It would be in C-F...."
"There are things," murmured Beardsley, "in Central File that would astound you."
Arnold was staring at the coded tapes. "Mandleco," he breathed. "And with elections coming up!" He shook himself out of the daze. "The--the other two Primes?"
"Next is not so startling. A really strong Recessive Factor there ... Professor Karl Losch."
Arnold jerked erect suddenly. "Losch? Say, I remember him! Now _there's_ a man pursued by bad luck. He was working along similar lines to Carmack--in fact, wasn't he in Carmack's employ for a while?--but Carmack was first with the patents. You don't suppose that Losch--"
"I'm not supposed to suppose," Beardsley said softly. "But clinically, it is interesting to note that motive factor alone equates Losch from Logical into Prime. _Plus_ a high neuro-thalamic imbalance--132 over 80 on the last Index, with pronounced efforts at suppression."
He watched Arnold absorb that, and went on: "Now for the third Prime. I think it'll interest you...."