Mr. Waverly and Napoleon Solo met Dr. Meredith in his office. He motioned them to sit and then sat down himself, spreading the contents of a file on the desk before him. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment then looked up, rivetting Solo with his gaze. "I’m afraid your partner is a very disturbed young man, Mr. Solo."

Before Napoleon could speak, Mr. Waverly interjected, "What do you mean, Doctor?"

"We’ve run some more blood tests and still found no trace of any obvious drugs. The lab is still screening for some of the more exotic compounds, but so far, all results have been negative."

"Do you suspect drugs as the cause of Mr. Kuryakin’s illness?"

The docter hedged. "It’s hard to be definite. The use of so-called ‘recreational drugs’ is becoming increasingly popular. I’m sure you’ve read about LSD or ‘acid’ as it’s commonly called..."

"Now, wait a minute, Doctor," interrupted Solo angrily. "If you’re suggesting Illya..."

"I’m not suggesting anything, Mr. Solo. But we do have to consider all the possibilities. The use of such drugs has been known to produce symptoms of anxiety, neurosis and even paranoia and violence. Until all the test results are in, the subject is still open to speculation."

"Not to me, it isn’t. I know Illya, and he has never used drugs. He doesn’t even like to take aspirin."

"Calm down, Mr. Solo," Waverly ordered kindly. "The doctor is only being thorough."

Dr. Meredith looked at him gratefully, then continued. "I’ve ordered a full skull series of x-rays. That should allow us to determine the presence of any abnormalities."

"Such as a brain tumor," mumbled Napoleon.

"It’s a possibility," agreed the doctor.

"And if there is no tumor?" Waverly asked.

The doctor spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Well, if we rule out drugs and physical defects, I’m afraid that doesn’t leave many options. We’ll just have to invent some tests."

Mr. Waverly looked solemnly at the doctor. "Dr. Meredith, what is your honest opinion? Please don’t mince words. Do you believe Mr. Kuryakin is...mentally disturbed?"

Dr. Meredith took a deep breath, pressing his hands together pensively as he considered his response. He began slowly. "The mind is a complicated thing and often behaves in strange ways. No one knows for certain what causes the vast majority of mental disorders. Often it’s a chemical imbalance which can be treated successfully with medication. Other times it’s far more subtle. A man in Mr. Kuryakin’s line of work is under tremendous stress. My first impression was that he was suffering from some sort of psychoneurosis, but his case is puzzling in that it seems to have developed so rapidly. My information indicates that his symptoms began to appear only within the last couple of weeks. Generally, there would be small signs over a period of time. Enforcement agents are closely monitored for such signs of stress, due to the sensitive nature of their work. Mr. Kuryakin’s last evaluation was less than three months ago, and there were no indications at that time of any problem."

Waverly turned to his chief agent. "Mr. Solo, you’re probably closer to Mr. Kuryakin than anyone else. How would you judge him mentally over the past few months?"

Napoleon didn’t reply. He was thinking hard on the doctor’s words, ‘...his symptoms began to appear only within the last couple of weeks.’ The last couple of weeks...ever since they had returned from George! It couldn’t be a coincidence. Hard evidence or not, he knew now what he had to do.

Before he could say anything, the phone on Dr. Meredith’s desk rang suddenly. The doctor answered it. "Meredith...I see. Yes, send them to my office. Thank you."

He replaced the receiver and looked at the two men across the desk. "That was the x-ray lab. There are no signs of anything out of the ordinary. Mr. Kuryakin is back in his room. We can go visit him now, if you like."

"Yes," replied Waverly, rising to his feet.

Napoleon decided to wait on his theory until after he had seen his partner. He pushed the memory of Illya’s last words to him out of his mind, preferring to pretend they had never been spoken.

Dr. Meredith felt otherwise. He cautioned, "Mr. Solo, in light of Mr. Kuryakin’s reaction to your presence the last time you saw him, I want you to be prepared to leave immediately if necessary. Do you understand?"

Napoleon nodded reluctantly and started for the door. Mr. Waverly put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "He’s in good hands, Mr. Solo."