"... and there we came upon THREE pre-Atomic books!"
"A wonderful find," Ruskin said, without enthusiasm.
"More wonderful than you think, Commissioner."
Bigelow squared his shoulders dramatically.
"Two of them were much like the other pre-Atomic books in the museums, but the third...."
Never before had a pre-Atomic book been found with pictures. Artists had painted their own versions drawn from the few meager written descriptions....
"Plenty, but just one would be enough to shake the foundations of our social world!"
He opened his briefcase and pulled out a small book protected by its own cloth cover. He opened to a marked page.
Ruskin took the book and stared curiously at a picture showing a dressed up dog sitting in a chair patting a human on the head. The caption read: MAN'S BEST FRIEND GETS REWARD.
"I don't understand," he said slowly. "Is it some kind of joke-book?"
"A very bitter joke, Commissioner. A joke of Mother Nature's."
"I think you do, Commissioner," Bigelow countered quickly. "Now so many of the things we couldn't understand become clear to us. The naked animal on the floor in the picture is our ancestor, and the hairless thing in the chair is our dog!"
"Not at all! In the lower animal and plant orders more amazing mutations occurred during the Atomic Wars--we just never noticed because they didn't touch us closely."
Ruskin's mind rushed over the implications, all the frightful and carefully ignored aberrations of the Atomic blasts.
If it was true, and he still wouldn't let himself be convinced, it would be a tremendous blow to the morale of Society. And it was his duty to protect the well-being of Society. He must decide ... now ... for Society....
"This is a very delicate problem, Bigelow," he said finally.
"You've come upon something ... fantastic."
"Good. Leave the book with me ... for security reasons ... and I'll figure how to handle it."
"Of course, I'll see that you get all the credit you deserve."
"Very well, Commissioner. I'll leave it in your hands."
He left with the air of a man just conquering the world.
Ruskin sat, the closed book in both hands, for a long long while. It was very late when he called the Psycho Section.
"Yes," Psycho answered. "We have a file on Bigelow."