Murray Leinsfer THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AFTER NEXT

In this tale we meet our first Mad Scientist. Just as in reality the thoroughly cracked pots used to be found
inventing perpetual-motion machines, so in science fiction we find the lunatic fringe more often than not trying
to perfect time-travel mechanisms.
Of course, Mr. inder is not really mad! he is "ust a bit unlikely. #nd the results of his e$periments are unlikelier
yet, but you come to look for that sort of thing with pleased anticipation when you read time-travel stories.
%on&t write in asking Mr. 'einster where the people in his story were when they weren&t here. (e could tell you,
but you wouldn&t understand, any more than Mr. Mc)adden did, or I did.
It can be reported that Mr. Thaddeus Binder is again puttering happily around the workshop he calls his
laboratory, engaged again upon something that healonecalls philosophic-scientific research. He is a
ery nice, little, pink-cheeked person, Mr. Binderbut maybe somebody ought to
stop him.
Mr. !teems could be asked for an opinion. If the matter of Mr. Binder"s last triumph is mentioned in Mr.
!teems"s hearing, he will begin to speak, rapidly and with emotion. His speech will grow impassioned# his
tone will grow shrill and hoarse at the same time# and presently he will foam at the
mouth. This occurs though he is not aware that he eer met Mr. Binder in person, and though the word
$compenetrability$ has neer %&allen upon his ears. It occurs because Mr. !teems is sensitie. He still
resents it that the newspapers described him as the Ta'i Monstera mass murderer e'ceeding een M.
(andru in the number of his ictims. There is also the matter of Miss !usie Blepp, to whom Mr. !teems
was affianced at the time, and there is the matter of )atrolman *assidy, whose loe life was rearranged. Mr.
!teems"s reaction is iolent. But the background of the episode was completely innocent. It was een
chastely intellectual.
The background was Mr. Thaddeus Binder. He is a plump little man of si'ty-four, retired on pension from
the Maintenance +epartment of the local electric light and power company. He makes a hobby of a line of
research that seems to hae been neglected. !ince his retirement, Mr. Binder has read widely and deeply,
,uaffing the wisdom of men like -ant, (eibnit., Maritain, &instein, and %udge /utherford. He absorbs
philosophical notions from those great minds and then tries to apply them practically at his workbench. He
does not reali.e his success. +efinitely0
Mr. !teems droe a ta'icab in which Mr. Binder rode 1ust after one such e'periment. The whole affair
sprang from that fact. Mr. Binder had come upon the philosophical concept of compenetrability. It is the
abstract thought thatall e'perience to the contrary notwithstandingtwo things might manage to be in
the same place at the same time. Mr. Binder decided that it might be true. He e'perimented. In
Maintenance, before his retirement, he had answered many calls in the emergency truck, and he knew some
things that electricity on the loose can do. He knows some other things that he doesn"t beliee yet. In any
case, he used this background of factual data in grappling with a philosophical concept. He made a deice.
He tried it. He was delighted with the results. He then set out to show it to his friend Mr. Mc2adden.
It was about fie o"clock hi the afternoon of May 3, 4564. Mr. Binder reached the corner of Bliss and
-elin !treets, near his home. He had a paper-wrapped parcel under his arm. He saw Mr. !teems"s cab
parked by the curb. He approached and gae the address of his friend Mr. Mc2adden, on Monroe 7enue.
Mr. !teems looked at him sourly. Mr. Binder got into the cab and repeated the address. Mr.
!teems snapped, $I got it the first time0$ He pulled out into the traffic, scowling. &erything was normal.
Mr. Binder settled back blissfully. The inside of the cab was dingy and worn, but he did not notice. The seat
cushion was so badly frayed that there was one place where a spring might stab through at any instant. But
Mr. Binder beamed to himself. He had won an argument with his friend Mr. Mc2adden. He had proof of his
correctness. It was the paper parcel on his lap.
The cab passed 8ernon !treet. It went by +upuy !treet. Mr. Binder chuckled to himself. In his reading, the
idea of compenetrability had turned up with a logical argument for its possibility that Mr. Binder
considered hot stuff. He had repeated that argument to Mr. Mc2adden, who tended to skepticism. Mr.
Mc2adden had said it was nonsense. Mr. Binder insisted that it was a triumph of inductie reasoning. Mr.
Mc2adden snorted. Mr. Binder said, $7ll right, I"ll proe it0$ 9ow he was on the way to do so.
His reading of abstruse philosophy had brought him happiness. He gloated as he rode behind Mr. !teems.
He een untied his parcel to admire the eidence all oer again. It was a large, thin, irregularly shaped piece
of soft leather, supposedly a deerskin. It had been a throw on the parlor settee, and had had a picture of
Hiawatha and Minnehaha on it. The picture was long gone, now, and the whole thing was about right to
wash a car with# but Mr. Binder regarded it ery happily. It was his proof that compenetrability was
possible.
7nother cab eeled in before Mr. !teems, forcing him to stop or collide. Mr. !teems 1ammed on his brakes,
howling with wrath. The brakes screamed, the wheels locked, and Mr. Binder slid forward off his seat. Mr.
!teems hurled inectie at the other drier. In turn, he receied inectie. They achieed heights of
elo,uence which soothed their separate kes. Mr. !teems turned proudly to Mr. Binder. $That told him off,
huh:$
Mr. Binder did not answer. He was not there. The back of the cab was empty. It was as if Mr. Binder had
eaporated.
Mr. !teems fumed. He turned off abruptly into a side street, stopped his cab, and inestigated. Mr. Binder
was utterly gone. 7 large patch of deerskin lay on the floor. ;n the deerskin there was an unusual collection
of small ob1ects. Mr. !teems found<
4 gold watch monogrammed THB, still running
=.>? in siler, nickel, and copper coins
4 pocketknife 4@ eyelets of metal, suitable for shoes
4 pair spectacles in metal case
4 nickel-plated ring, which would fit on a tobacco pipe 4A? small bits of metal, looking like .ipper teeth
4 key ring, with keys
4 metal shoelace tip
4 belt buckle, minus belt
Mr. !teems swore iolently. $!mart guy, huh0$ he said wrathfully. $BettinC a free ride0 He outsmarted
himself, he did0 (et "im try to get this watch back0 I neer seen him0$
He pocketed the watch and money. The other ob1ects he cast contemptuously away. He was about to heae
out the deerhide when he remembered that Miss !usie Blepp had made disparaging remarks about the
condition of his cab. !o had her mother, while grafting deadhead cab rides as Mr. !teems"s prospectie
mother-in-law. Mr. !teems said, $The hell with her0$ But then, grudgingly, he spread the deerhide oer the
back-seat cushion. It helped. It hid the spring that was about to stab through.
Mr. !teems was dourly pleased. He went and hocked Mr. Binder"s watch and felt a great deal better. He
resumed his lawful trade of plying the city streets as a common carrier. )resently he made a soft moaning
sound.
!usie"s mother stood on the curb, waing imperiously. His ta'i flag was up. Trust her to spot that first0 He
couldn"t claim he was busy. Bitterly, he pulled in and opened the back door for her. !he got in, puffing a
little. !he was large and formidable, and Mr. !teems mareled gloomily that a cute trick like !usie could
hae such a battle-a' for a mother.
$!usie told me to tell you,$ puffed Mrs. Blepp, $that she can"t keep tonight"s date.$
$;h, no:$ said Mr. !teems sourly.
$9o,$ said !usie"s mother seerely. !he waited challenging-ly for !teems to drie her home Dany hesitation
on his part would mean a row with !usieE. !he slipped off her shoes. !he settled back.
Mr. !teems droe. 7s he droe, he muttered. !usie was breaking a date. Maybe she was going out with
someone else. There was a cop named *assidy who always looked wistfully at !usie, een in the cab of her
affianced boy friend. Mr. !teems muttered anathemas upon all cops.
He drew up before !usie"s house# !usie wouldn"t be home yet. He turned to let !usie"s mother out.
His eyes practically popped out of his head.
The back of the cab was empty. ;n the seat there was seenteen cents in pennies, one nickel, a slightly
greenish wedding ring, an empty lipstick container, seeral straight steel springs, twele bobbie pins,
assorted safety pins, and a ery glittering dress ornament. ;n the floor Mrs. Blepp"s shoes remainedsi.e
ten and a half.
Mr. !teems cried out hoarsely. He stared about him, gulped seeral times for air, and then droe rapidly
away. !omething was wrong. He did not know what, but it was instinct to get away from there. Mr. !teems
did not want trouble. He especially did not want trouble with !usie. But
here it was.
This was bad business0 )resently he stopped and inspected his cab with infinite care. 9othing. The deerskin
made a good-looking seat coer. That was all. There was no opening anywhere through which !usie"s
mother could hae fallen. !he could not hae gone out through the door. Fnder no circumstances would she
hae abandoned her shoes. !omething untoward and upsetting had come into Mr. !teems"s
life.
Mr. !teems retired to a bar and had seeral beers. There was a situation to be facedto be thought out. But
Mr. !teems was not an intellectual type. Thinking made his head " hurt. He could not ask adice, because
nobody would beliee what he had to say. 7pprehension deeloped into desperation and then into defiance.
$I didn"t do nothing,$ muttered Mr. !teems truculently. $I don"t know nothing about it0$ Gould !usie not be
willing to beliee that: $I neer seen her0$ said Mr. !teems in firm resole. $I neer set eyes on that old
battle-a' today0 The hell with her0$
He had another beer. Then he reali.ed that to stay enclois-tered, drinking beer after beer, might suggest to
someone that he was upset. !o he set out to act in so conspicuously normal a manner that nobody could
suspect him of anything. He had lost considerable time in his meditation, howeer. It was nearly nine
o"clock when he resumed his cruising. It was half-past nine when he stopped behind a 1am of other ehicles
at a red light on &ers 7enue. He waited. He brooded.
!omebody wrenched open the door of the cab and crawled
in.
Mr. !teems reacted normally. $Hey0 Ghat"s the idea: Howya know I want a fare now:$
!omething cold and hard touched his spine and a hoarse oice snarled, $Bet goin", buddy. -eep your mouth
shut an" don"t turn around0$
The red light changed. !houting broke out half a block behind. Mr. !teemswith cold metal urging him
shifted gears with great celerity. He droe with all the enthusiasm of a man with no desire to be mi'ed up in
gunplay. The shouting died away in the distance. Mr. !teems droe on and droe on. )resently he dared to
say meekly, $Ghere you want me to drie you or let you out:$
Behind him there was silence.
/esting on the deerskin seat coer there was a ery nasty-looking automatic pistol, a black-1ack, =4.@6 in
coins, seenteen watches, thirty-four rings, a sterling siler gray bowl, and a garnet necklace. There were
also two large gold teeth.
Mr. !teems, trembling, went home and put the cab away. Then, unable to stay alone, he went out and drank
more beers as he tried to figure things out. He did not succeed.
7fter a long time he muttered bitterly, $It ain"t my fault0 I don"t know nothing about it0$ !till later he said
more bitterly still, $I can"t do nothing about it, anyways0$ Both statements were true. They gae Mr. !teems
some pleasure. He was innocent. He was blameless. Ghateer might turn up, he could stridently and
truthfully insist upon his complete rectitude. !o he had some more beers.
*ame the dawn, and !usie babbling frantically on a telephone. Her mother hadn"t come home or called, and
it was raining terribly and
Mr. !teems said indignantly, $I ain"t seen her. Ghat"s the idea of missing that date with me:$
!usie wept. !he repeated that her mother had not come home. The police)atrolman *assidyhad
checked, and she hadn"t been in any accident. !usie wanted Mr. !teems to do something to find out what
had become of her mother.
$Huh0$ said Mr. !teems. $9obody ain"t going to kidnap her0 I don"t know nothing about it. Ghat you want
me to do:$
!usie, sniffling, wanted him to help find her mother. But Mr. !teems knew better than to try it. It hurt his
head een to think about it. Besides, he didn"t want to get mi'ed up in anything.
$(ook,$ he said firmly, $it"s rainin" cats and dogs outside. I got to make some money so we can get married,
!usie. The
old dame"ll turn up. Maybe she"s 1ust kickin" up her heels. B"by.$
He went out to his cab. /ain fell heaily. It should hae brought 1oy to Mr. !teems"s heart, but he regarded
his cab uneasily. It wore a look of battered innocence. Mr. !teems grimly climbed into the front seat. He set
forth to act innocent. It seemed necessary. That was about nine o"clock in the morning.
By half-past ten, cold chills were practically a permanent fi'ture along his spine. He had had passengers.
They had anished. Fnanimously. Ine'plicably. They left behind them e'traordinary things as mementos.
2inancially, Mr. !teems was not doing badly. He aeraged half a dollar or better in cash from eery fare.
But otherwise he was doing ery badly indeed. 7t eleen, driing in teeming rain, he saw )atrolman
*assidyand *assidy saw him. 7t *assidy"s gesture Mr. !teems pointed to the back of his cab, implying
that he had a fare, and droe on through the rain. His teeth chattered. He droe hastily to his lodgings.
Business had been good. 2ar too good to hae allowed *assidy a look into the cab. Mr. !teems furtiely
carried into his lodgings<
A suitcases 4 brief case
3 pairs women"s shoes Dassorted si.esE l
l
*+ do.en red roses
4 plucked chicken, ready for the oen
@ ,uarts milk
4 imitation-leather-coered wallpaper catalogue
2rom his pockets he dumped into a bureau drawer not less than eight watchesmen"s and women"sfour
rings, eleen bracelets, and nine scatter pins. He had brushed out of the cab at least a double handful of
small nails, practically all of them bent at the end, and many of them rusted.
Mr. !teems was in a deplorable mental state. ;nce he had stashed his loot, howeer, indignation took the
place of uneasiness.
$Ghat"s that guy *assidy want to see me for, huh:$ he demanded of the air. $Ghat"s he tryin" to do: 2igure I
done somethin" to that old bag:$
He droe back indignantly in search of *assidy. He scowled at the raincoated cop when he found him.
*assidy e'plained that !usie was upset. +id Mr. !teems, by any chance
$I told her I didn"t know nothing about the old dame0$
said Mr. !teems stridently. $!ure, she grafts a ride eery time she gets a chance0 But I didn"t see her
yesterday. Ghat"s !usie think I done to her, anyway:$
)atrolman *assidy did not know. 9aturally.
7nd then a passenger with two suitcases and a brief case stepped up beside *assidy and said, $Is this ta'i
taken:$
There was nothing for Mr. !teems to do but accept him as a fare. To refuse would hae been suspicious.
Two blocks away the cab somehow felt emptyMr. !teems was ac,uiring an uncanny ability to feel this
and he turned around and saw a cigarette case and a monogrammed lighter on the back-seat cushion, with
=4.@6 in change, pants buttons, metal eyelets suitable for shoes, a gold-barreled ballpoint pen, and other
miscellany.
Mr. !teems could not afford to cease to drie his ta'icab. To do so would be to inite in,uiry. He could not
refuse passengers. To do so would be instantly suspicious. He was caught in a ise of circumstance. But he
had the sustaining coniction of blamelessness. Ghat happened was not his fault. 7nd anyhow he was one
of those fortunate people who deelops fury as a fine art. It was his custom always to get mad enough soon
enough to aoid all need for thought. He went through life in an aura of pleasurable indignation, always
assured that anything that happened was somebody else"s fault.
That process took oer now. Ghen a passenger flagged him down and got in his cab and gae an address,
Mr. !teems was blameless. Ghen the passenger anished into thin air, leaing souenirs behind, Mr.
!teems merely felt his resentment increase. By the end of the second day he seethed as he cleaned up after
each departed fare. He raged as he packed his lodgings with the baggage and parcels that mysteriously
remained.
!omebody, he muttered darkly to himself, was gonna hae to pay for this funny business0 !omebody was
gonna pay plenty0 Ghen they tried to get their stuff back they"d see0
That prospect of future 1ustification and reenge ended his mental efforts. He did call up !usie to find out if
her mother had turned up yetshe hadn"t, and he generously offered to take !usie out on a date to take her
mind off her troubles. But !usie got almost hysterical, and Mr. !teems took refuge in a beer and embittered
mutterings. He wasn"t responsible for what happened to people who rode with him0
$Ghat"s a guy gonna do:$ he asked bitterly of his beer glass. There was the possibility that he could cease
to drie
the cab from which eery passenger seemed to anish into thin air. But he dismissed that notion with
incredulous horror. $They want a guy to stare to death:$ he demanded truculently.
He would definitely not consider staring to death. But he couldn"t fathom the mystery. He"d completely
forgotten the clue that might hae gien him the answer. Mr. Thaddeus Binder had been the first passenger
to anish. He had left the deerskin behind, loaded with his possessions. The deerskin remained, and now
fre,uently was loaded with other people"s possessions. But Mr. !teems could not add that together. 7nd
een if he had, Mr. !teems would hae failed to understand. He would hae needed to be told that Mr.
Binder had made an e'periment to proe that compenetra-bility was possible. Maybe een that wouldn"t
hae helped, howeer# besides, he didn"t remember Mr. Binder. He recalled male passengers by their tips
and some female ones by their hips. Mr. Binder was gone from his recollection.
7 third day passed. !usie"s mother did not reappear. !usie took an unreasoning dislike to Mr. !teems. !he
said he didn"t care. 7s a matter of fact, nobody cared more than he did, but he was in a fi'. !usie conferred
tearfully with )atrolman *assidy. Her mother"s disappearance was duly reported to the Bureau of Missing
)ersons. There were a surprising lot of people missing all of a sudden. )atrolman *assidy discoered the
fact and grew ambitious. He considered that in !usie"s mother"s case he had a lead. He began to work from
that standpoint.
7fter the fourth day of the phenomenon of the disappearing passengers, Mr. !teems"s lodgings began to get
crowdedwith suitcases, packages, storage batteries, sa'ophones in their cases, groceries of all kinds. ;ne
wall of his room was solidly banked with suitcases alone. 7fter the fifth day, the space beneath his bed was
filled and a second wall partly obscured. ;n the si'th day he began really to run out of space.
That daythe si'thwas the day the newspapers broke the story. The headlines were impressie.
6@ MI!!I9B I9 *ITH0 M;9!T&/ 7T G;/-:
7nd there it was. Fp to a gien hour, fifty-two citi.ens of all ages and both se'es had disappeared from the
city"s streets, and other disappearances were being reported almost
hourly< a list of unfortunates who had seemingly gone out of e'istence like snuffed candle flames....
Mr. !teems read the list with a 1aundiced eye. $I neer seen none of "em,$ he said bitterly to the missing
persons" luggage piled against the walls about him. $I don"t ask nobody their name an" address when they
get in my cab0 It ain"t none of my business0$ Then Mr. !teems again hurled the crushing, unanswerable
,uestion at an imaginary interrogator< $Ghadda you want a guy to do: !top runnin" Ms ta'i an" stare to
death:$
The newspaper account pointed out that none of the known missing had any reason to disappear. !ome had
anished as early as eleen in the morning, and some as late as half-past twele at night. 7ll had dropped
out of sight while on their way from one part of the city to another.C !eeral had last been seen entering a
ta'icab. 7n'ious relaties were demanding that the police take drastic action. They demanded the
,uestioning of ta'i driers
$Heah0$ cried Mr. !teems furiously. $9ot only that old bag hadda anish, so !usie don"t speak to me no
more, but now they"re gonna get eerybody scared to ride in ta'icabs0$ He slammed down the paper and
went to the corner saloon. He had a beer. He belieed that he thought better with a beer. It was a delusion.
He brooded. $Ghadda they want:$ he muttered oratorically, a little later. $It"s them *ommies start stories
like that0 Them newspaper guys, they"re *ommies0$
He had another beer, and his rage mounted to the point where he dropped a nickel in the saloon pay phone
and furiously called a newspaper.
$Ghadda you guys tryin" to do:$ he demanded shrilly. $Hou wanna drie a honest, self-respectin" guy outa
business: Hou go printin" stuff about people anishin" outa ta'icabs, and how am I gonna make a liin": Hou
wanna drie a guy to crime:$
He hung up and went to his cab, muttering embitteredly. Three blocks away he picked up a fat man for a
fare. The fat man had an eening paper in his hand. He gae an address. He said in mock fear, $Hou"re not
the Ta'i Monster, are you:$
Mr. !teems let in the clutch with a iolent 1erk. He droe a full hundred yards, hissing like superheated
steam awaiting release. Then he spoke in a tone of suppressed fren.y. He e'pressed his opinion of
newspaper reporters in terms that would hae curdled sulphuric acid. He worked up to scathing
comment on people who made 1okes at guys who were only trying to earn an honest liing. His oice rose.
His bitterness increased. Ghenit was then nine forty-fie ).M.when he came to a red light and a large
truck forced him to halt, he was e'pressing himself at the top of his lungs. There were stores on either side
of the street. Their signs lighted his face clearly.
7 s,uad car came to a halt beside him. )atrolman *assidy said, $That"s him0$ and got out and walked to the
side of the cab. Mr. !teems was saying shrilly, $It"s guys like youguys that because you got some money
think you can raise hell with any guy that"s got to make a liingit"s guys like you that ruin this country0
Hah, you capitalists$
$!ay,$ said *assidy in Mr. !teems"s ear. $Ghat"s the matter:$
Mr. !teems 1umped. *assidy0 ;utrage upon outrage0 He said furiously, $That guy in the back asked me if
I"d killed anybody hi my cab yet, on accounta that fancy piece in the paper$
)atrolman *assidy looked. Then he said, $That guy in the back: Ghat guy in the back:$
Mr. !teems turned. There was no guy in the back at all. But on the deerskin seat coer was a watch, a
monogrammed fountain pen in siler and gold, seenty-fie cents in small siler, a hearing aid, three pants
buttons, a glittering pile of .ipper teeth, and a belt buckle.
)atrolman *assidy signaled to the s,uad car. He stepped into the cab himself.
$Ge"re going to Head,uarters,$ he said in deadly calm. $I"e been checking, and !usie"s mother ain"t the
only one that was last seen getting into your cab, Mr. !teems0 Ge"re goin" to Head,uarters, and don"t you
try nothing funny on the way, you hear:$
Mr. !teems practically strangled on his sense of in1ustice. He started toward Head,uarters. The s,uad car
followed closely.
Ghen at last he could speak, Mr. !teems cried shrilly, $Hou ain"t got nothing on me0$
7nd there was no answer from the back of the cab.
Mr. !teems can tell of these things. He can tell of his status after his lodgings had been searched, and
stacked against the wall, hidden under the bed, 1ammed into the closet souenirs turned up of seenty-
one out of the seenty-two persons finally missing. The e'ception was, of course, )atrol-
man *assidy, whose shield, serice gun, whistle, handcuffs, brass knuckles, and other assorted metallic
mementos lay enshrined at Head,uarters as a symbol of deotion to duty.
Mr. !teems became instantly, nationally, famous as the Ta'i Monster, murderer by wholesale. His downfall
was ascribed to an untiring patrolman who, spurred on by loe of a missing person"s daughter, had gone
sleepless and followed clue after clue until finally he unmasked the monsterand had tragically become
his final ictim, done somehow to death on the way to )olice Head,uarters while a s,uad car followed
close behind.
Mr. !teems was held without bail on seenty-one charges of murder in the first degree. DIt would hae been
seenty-two, had Mr. Binder"s anishing been reported.E Mr. !teems"s fren.iedly righteous protests went
unheeded. He was sunk.
But there is 1ustice for all in these Fnited !tates, especially if publicity goes along with it. 7 Mr. Iring
*astleman was appointed by the court to defend Mr. !teems. He instantly pointed out that not one dead
body had so far been found nor had any of the missing persons been seen dead by anybody. The principle
of corpus delicti therefore applied. He re,uested Mr. !teems"s instant release. The authorities countered
with separate charges of larceny for each article found piled up in Mr. !teems"s lodgings. His lawyer
submitted that no complaint of theft had been made by any missing person. Those ob1ects might hae been
gifts to Mr. !teems. There was no proof to the contrary. Mr. !teems should be released. It was not until the
cops encouraged a lynching mob to hang around outside the 1ail that Mr. !teems"s lawyer consented to let
him stay in a cell as a suspicious person.
Things boomed. 2eature writers, news commentators, and gossip columnists made the most of Mr. !teems.
He was compared to Mr. (andru, to Mr. *ripps, to Bluebeard, Billes de /ais, and other mass murderers.
His record topped them all. He was tendered the rewards of such eminence. Huge payments were offered
for the story of his life and crimes, and his lawyer hopefully urged him to accept so he could pay his trial
e'penses. Three psychoanalysts e'plained his urge to kill as the result of childhood frustration. ;ne
psychoanalyst said it had deeloped because he was not frustrated as a child. 2our sociologists declared that
not Mr. !teems but society would be on trial when he stood before the bar. The Bell Telephone *ompany
set aside its biggest switchboard for the use of the press when the trial took place.
!usie hit the headlines. 9ot as Mr. !teems"s fiancee, how-
eer, but as the heartbroken sweetheart of his final ictim. Three other women, howeer, claimed to be
already married to him, and twenty-nine more wrote and suggested matrimony.
7nd then the bottom dropped out of eerything.
)atrolman *assidy, who had anished from Mr. !teems"s cab on the way to Head,uarters, came limping
into that building in a state of bemused distress. He said he had fallen out of Mr. !teems"s cab and found
himself minus shield, gun, handcuffs, pants buttons, and the nails in his shoe, which came apart as he
picked himself up. He"d come at once to Head,uarters to report....
7n hour later a fat man was found lying on the street, out of breath. He insisted that he had kidded a ta'icab
chauffeur about being The Monster, and the ne't thing he knew he"d been thrown out on the street. Minus
his watch, belt buckle, hearing-aid, pants .ipper, shoe nails, and other possessions.
In ,uick succession other missing persons reappeared on the public streets. 7ll were more or less
disheeled. &ach had lost all metal carried on his or her person. &ach was coninced that heor shehad
not disappeared at all, but had merely gotten into a cab, instantly been thrown out,, and immediately had
come to report the offense. In four hours, nine missing persons reappearedpersons who had been missing
for four to fie days. In si' hours, fifteen others appearedhaing been missing from si' days to seen. In
twenty-four hours, fifty-eight out of the seenty-one known anished persons had reappeared and
unanimously identified Mr. !teems as associated with their mishap. 7nd the end was not yet.
Gith keen intelligence, the police obsered that those who returned were doing so in the reerse order from
that in which they had disappeared. Ghen, therefore, !usie"s mother appeared in outraged fury to report the
theft of her shoes, wedding ring, and the steel springs out of her foundation garment by the illainous Mr.
!teemswhom !usie would neer speak to againthe police knew the end was near.
It was nearer than that. It had come. Mr. Binder found himself lying flat on his back on the public highway.
He had, he thought at first, fallen out of a ta'icab. Then he reali.ed that he had merely fallen into the soft,
ancient deerskin oer which he had been gloating a moment before at 6<I? in the afternoon of May 3. 9ow
there was neither ta'icab nor deerskin about. Moreoer, it had suddenly become the middle
of the night, and his watch and small change were gone, and his pants were falling down....
Mr. Binder went homea matter of two blocks. There were papers piled in his front hall. He discoered
that it was May 4A. He learned what had been going on. He"d gone out of his house, tumbled into the
deerskin which proed corn-penetrability a practical matterand now it was eleen days and some hours
later.
Mr. Binder brewed a cup of strong tea and "thought concentratedly. Gith the facts before him and his
background of technical knowledge, it was not difficult to work out a theory which completely e'plained
all the obsered and reported facts. But this had more than merely intellectual interest. There was a legal
aspect. !eenty-one people could sue.... Mr. Binder shuddered. Then he discoered that his name had not
been listed as among the missing. 9obody had reported him gone, because he lied alone. 9o souenir of
him had been found in Mr. !teems"s lodging, because Mr. !teems had hocked his watch.
Mr. Binder came to a ery intelligent conclusion. The thing for him to do was keep his mouth shut.
9e't day, howeer, he went oer to see his friend Mr. Mc2adden.
$9ow, what d"you know0$ said Mr. Mc2adden. $I had it you were a ictim of that there Ta'i Monster.
Ghere were you, anyway:$
$I"d like to be sure,$ said Mr. Binder. $(isten, Beorge0$
He told Mr. Mc2adden e'actly what had happened. He had found, said Mr. Binder, the secret of
comperietration. The atoms of solid things, een steel, are ery small and relatiely far apart, so that the
solidest of ob1ects has actually as much empty space in it as a dust cloud# neutrons and cosmic rays go
through without trouble. ;rdinarily two solid ob1ects can no more penetrate each other than two dust clouds
can penetrate each other. The dust clouds are held together by the air on which the dust particles float. !olid
ob1ects are held together by the electric and magnetic fields the indiidual atoms possess. But if the electric
fields of atoms can be stopped from hindering, there is plenty of room for one seemingly solid ob1ect to
penetrate another, and therefore for two or more things to be in the same place at the same time.
$7nd that,$ said Mr. Binder, $is what I did. I couldn"t take away all the hindering of the atoms, Beorge. I
could 1ust cut it down. But I fi'ed up a deerskin that used to be a
throw on the parlor settee, and I could push anything but metal right through it without making a hole.
Metal wouldn"t go through. It stayed behind. I had the deerskin sort of magneti.ed, Beorge, and the effect
wouldn"t last foreer, but I started oer here with it to show you that I could make things compenetrate.$
$+oes that tell me where you"e beenif I beliee it:$ $Gell,$ said Mr. Binder, considering, $I don"t know
that it does. Hou see, Beorge, I missed out on one thing. 9ormally those atom fields hold each atom in its
place up and down, and side to side, and fore and aft-if you get what I mean. Ghen somethingan atom
tries to push between them, they push right back. But when I hindered them from that, they still pushed.
;nly they pushed at right angles to up and down and side to side and fore and aft. 7t right angles to all of
the other directions they ought to push in.$
$7t right angles to all other directions:$ said Mr. Mc2ad-den skeptically. $How could that be: "Twould be a
fourth
dimension0$
$It was,$ said Mr. Binder modestly. $7nd the fourth dimension"s time flow, Beorge. !o when I fell through
the deerskin and all those atoms pushed on the atoms that are me, they pushed me off into the fourth
dimension. They pushed me into the middle of week after ne't. This is the middle of week after ne't to me,
Beorge. By relatiity.$
Mr. Mc2adden stared. Then, carefully, he filled hiJ pipe. He lighted it and puffed without words. Mr.
Mc2adden was a skeptical man.
Mr. Binder said meditatiely, $7h, well0 Those atoms that get their fields all tricked up won"t stay that way.
&ery day they threw people who fell through the deerskin 1ust a little shorter distance. 2rom the middle of
the week after ne't, where they threw me, they"e slowed down and slowed down. By what the papers say,
I figure the last missing people only got thrown into the day after tomorrow. 7nd maybe by this time the
atoms in the deerskin are back to normal and won"t allow any compenetration.$
$Is that so:$ said Mr. Mc2adden with fine scorn.
$I"m afraid so,$ said Mr. Binder regretfully. $*ompenetration can be done, Beorge, but it 1ust isn"t practical.
I"m going to try replication.$
$7nd what, may I ask, is replication:$
$7h0$ said Mr. Binder enthusiastically. $That"s the philosophical notion that it could be possible for the
same thing to
be in seeral places at the same time0 That has possibilities, Beorge0$
It can be reported that Mr. Thaddeus Binder is now at work on the problem of replication, whichhe will
e'plainis a philosophico-scientific prospect of great interest. He is a ery nice, pink-cheeked, little man,
Mr. Binder, but maybe somebody ought to stop him. He does not reali.e his talents. /eplication, now...
Mr. !teems could be applied to for an opinion. 7fter all, he has had e'perience with Mr. Binder"s
e'periments. If the matter of the Ta'i Monster and the middle of the week after ne't is mentioned in his
icinity, he will begin to speak rapidly and with emotion. His speech will grow impassioned, his tone will
grow hoarse and shrill at the same time, and presently he will foam at the mouth. But on the other hand,
!usie Blepp and )atrolman *assidy feel ,uite otherwise.
It"s pretty hard to decide.