Genius Unlimited by Phillifent John T

Author:Phillifent, John T. [Phillifent, John T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Amazon: B002F709VQ
Goodreads: 6267038
Publisher: DAW
Published: 1972-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

Eight

As soon as they were all clustered in the glass house, the floor sank away down to bring them to one comer of a huge, minimally furnished room, the walls of which were almost solidly book shelves. Their arrival brought a touch of animation to the people there assembled. Alma made the introductions, and Sixx took the opportunity to study each one candidly.

Lea Lawrence was slender, inclined to drift rather than walk, and her choice of a long and shapeless white robe augmented her ethereal appearance, but her accent was down-to-earth hard Australian. Olga Glink, on the other hand, despite her angular name was as chubby and curvaceous as any Greek marble and almost as negligibly covered. The brief twist of cloth about her hips was startlingly white against her glow-tanned skin. She was the best possible advertisement for her own field, the art of living.

Graham Packard, a long, angular, austere hawk of a man, came to offer a handshake, but Sixx had the impression that he was entrenched behind a facade, watching and noting everything. His neutral gray one-piece fitted him both in body and atmosphere. Rilke, by comparison, was squat, sturdy, and deliberately strong in handshaking, a knuckle-buster who got nowhere with the two men. He was inclined to scowl at nothing in particular, and his loose robe was violent orange, suiting him.

Although he was studying the party of oddballs, Sixx was keeping an eye on Louise, too. He had come to accept, almost without knowing it, that she was the key character here. Right from the start, of course, he had understood that she was the official, the detective, and he and Roger merely the guard, but that was on an intellectual level. It was in his bones and temperament to assume, to take for granted, that he would be able to stay up front and level with her in any investigation. It came as a distinct and uncomfortable novelty to him, here and now, to realize that he was a long way behind her—and that she was probably away out of her depth, too, with only her instincts to lean on. She seemed composed enough, though, as the oddly assorted group dispersed once more to distant corners of the room. It was as if they could barely stand to be with one another.

“You all right, Louise?” he asked softly, and she nodded.

“There’s nothing here so far. Mild tensions only. They don’t like each other—not as we understand it—more a discomfort. ..”

“You don’t have to be intuitive to see that,” Lowry muttered. “They shy away from each other like a bunch of north poles.”

“No wonder,” Sixx suggested. “They were all here when Vancec bought it, so they are all under direct suspicion, and that’s enough to put a chill into any festive gathering.”

“I think that’s only part of it,” Louise said. “Let’s find out In a case like this, atmosphere can be important.” She raised her voice, talking to Alma but including everyone within earshot. “I get the impression that everyone is avoiding everyone else.

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