Fabian finished his plate, sat back and crossed his arms. “Could you be just a little more specific? Unless—” and he was struck by a horrifying thought—“unless they’re what is known as, er, as female difficulties. In that case, of course—”

This time she didn’t even blush. “Oh, no. Not at all. At least there’s very little of that. It’s—other things. Like my appendix. Every year I have to have my appendix out.”

“Your appendix?” He turned that over in his mind. “Every year? But a human being only has one appendix. And once it’s removed, it doesn’t grow back.”

“Mine does. On the tenth of April, every single year, I get appendicitis and have to have an operation. That’s why I take my vacation then. And my teeth. Every five years, I lose all my teeth. I start losing them about this time, and I have some dental plates that were made when I was younger—I use them until my teeth grow back. Then, about the middle of October, the last of them goes and new ones start coming up. I can’t use my dental plates while they’re growing, so I look kind of funny for a while. That’s why I ask for a leave of absence. In the middle of November, the new teeth are almost full-grown, and I come back to work.”

She took a deep breath and timidly lifted her eyes to his face. That was all she evidently had to say. Or wished to.

All through dessert, he thought about it. He was positive she was telling the truth. A girl like Wednesday Gresham didn’t lie. Not to such a fantastic extent. Not to her boss.

“Well,” he said at last. “It’s certainly very unusual.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “Very unusual.”

“Do you have anything else the matter with—I mean, are there any other peculiarities—Oh, darn! Is there anything else?”

Wednesday considered. “There are. But, if you don’t mind, Mr. Balik, I’d rather not—”