The old man sagged into a deflated bag of wrinkles. "Let's sit down
first," he said weakly.
Norris followed him up the stairs and into a dingy parlor. The tiny
apartment smelled of boiled cabbage and sweat. An orange-haired
neutroid lay asleep on a small rug in a corner. Norris knelt
beside it and read the tattooed figures on the sole of its left
foot--K-99-LJZ-351. Somehow he was not surprised.
When he stood up, the old man was sagged in an ancient armchair, his
head propped on a hand that covered his eyes.
"Lots of good explanations, I guess?" Norris asked quietly.
"Not good ones."
"Let's hear them, anyway."
O'Reilley sighed and straightened. He blinked at the inspector
and spoke in a monotone. "My missus died five years back. We were
class-B--allowed one child of our own--if we could have one. We
couldn't. But since we were class-B, we couldn't own a neutroid either.
Sorta got around it by running a pet shop. Mary--she always cried when
we sold a neut. I sorta felt bad about it myself. But we never did
swipe one. Last year this Bermuda shipment come in. I sold most of 'em
pretty quick, but Peony here--she was kinda puny. Seemed like nobody
wanted her. Kept her around so long, I got attached to her. 'Fraid
somebody'd buy her. So I faked the receipt and moved her up here."
"That all?"
The old man nodded.
"Ever done this before?"
He shook his head.
Norris let a long silence pass while he struggled with himself. At last
he said, "Your license could be revoked, you know."
"I know."
Norris ground his fist thoughtfully in his palm and stared at the
sleeping doll-thing. "I'll take your books home with me tonight,"
he said. "I want to make a complete check for similar changes. Any
objections?"
"None. It's the only trick I've pulled, so help me."
"If that's true, I won't report you. We'll just attach a correction
to that page, and you'll put the newt back in stock." He hesitated.
"Providing it's not a deviant. I'll have to take it in for examination."
A choking sound came from the armchair. Norris stared curiously at the
old man. Moisture was creeping in the wrinkles around his eyes.
"Something the matter?"