He punched the knob of the two-way intercom and waited for the smooth face of his co-ordinator to appear on the screen.

“Ali,” said Gulliman. “There are two first-degrees this day. Is there any unusual problem?”

“No, sir.” The dark-complexioned face with its sharp, black eyes seemed restless. “Both cases are quite low probability.”

“I know that,” said Gulliman. “I observed that neither probability is higher than 15 per cent. Just the same, Multivac has a reputation to maintain. It has virtually wiped out crime, and the public judges that by its record on first-degree murder which is, of course, the most spectacular crime.”

Ali Othman nodded. “Yes, sir. I quite realize that.”

“You also realize, I hope,” Gulliman said, “that I don’t want a single consummated case of it during my term. If any other crime slips through, I may allow excuses. If a first-degree murder slips through, I’ll have your hide. Understand?”

“Yes, sir. The complete analyses of the two potential murders are already at the district offices involved. The potential criminals and victims are under observation. I have rechecked the probabilities of consummation and they are already dropping.”

“Very good,” said Gulliman, and broke connection.

He went back to the list with an uneasy feeling that perhaps he had been overpompous.—But then, one had to be firm with these permanent civil-service personnel and make sure they didn’t imagine they were running everything, including the Chairman. Particularly this Othman, who had been working with Multivac since both were considerably younger, and had a proprietary air that could be infuriating.

To Gulliman, this matter of crime was the political chance of a lifetime. So far, no Chairman had passed through his term without a murder taking place somewhere on Earth, some time. The previous Chairman had ended with a record of eight, three more (more, in fact) than under his predecessor.