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that.”
    “It goes with ability to influence emotion. Smell and emotion. Closely related.”
    “Do you think you could make someone sneeze?” Charli asked.
    “No. Since event I have tried. No success.”
    “Could I ask you to influence my emotion right now?” Charli stared at her to see if the request would elicit a hesitant response.
    “I am not carnival performer.”
    “Something simple. Make me laugh, cry, feel scared, anything. I would like to be convinced. It could help our investigation.”
    “Very well.” Golubkhov raised her arms toward Charli and waggled her fingers, exaggerating her accent. “You are under my power, Dahlink. You vill be hungry, like bear.”
    Charli laughed in spite of herself. “Please be serious.”
    Ms. Golubkhov became still and stared at Charli.
    “Wait,” Charli said. “Which emotion are you going for?”
    “Tell me what you feel.”
    Charli smiled. “No, most people are aware of some emotion at any time, perhaps you could write it down, and then we can check it.” She came out of her chair and handed a pad and pencil over the desk. After writing, Golubkhov became still again and stared for sixty seconds.
    At the end of the minute, Golubkhov asked “What did you feel?”
    “Absolutely nothing. Frankly, I’m getting irritated and annoyed with how this is going. We are not getting anywhere, and I’m afraid I’m wasting my time. You are charismatic and funny, and I like you, but this all seems silly.”
    Golubkhov held out the paper, and Charli reached over the desk to get it. Written on it: “Annoyance, impatience.”
    Charli let out a whoop of laughter. Her guest was smiling. Charli said, “Oh, that’s rich. Are you serious? Of course anyone would have predicted those emotions. Anyone could see that’s how I was feeling.” She went over to the wall and tacked the piece of paper to the bulletin board and returned to her desk. “I’ll get a laugh out of that every time I look at it.”
    “Turn paper over.”
    “What?”
    “Turn paper over. Look what I wrote on other side.”
    Charli got up again, went to the board, and turned the paper over. She read “Laughter.” She laughed again. “Well, that’s a little better, but anyone with a sense of humor could also have predicted that. Ms. Golubkhov, I’m sure you play chess?”
    “I do. Please call me Adina.”
    “Well I think you always see several moves ahead.” They were both laughing now, and Charli wasn’t sure whether Golubkhov had been serious or joking. “But Adina, we have a serious problem to resolve. Do you know anything about the sneeze?”
    “I can tell you only two things.” She paused. “First. Wasn’t caused by human.”
    “Okay. And the other thing?”
    “Came from …” she boosted her crippled body up on the chair, leaned over the side, and pointed almost straight down. “From there.”
    “From Hell?”
    “From that direction.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Yes. Is all I know.”
    Charli buzzed her assistant. “Well, thank you for your time, Adina. I sincerely enjoyed meeting you. Please let me know if you have any other thoughts on this matter.”
    “Ms. Keller?”
    Charli raised her eyebrows.
    “Man you love will be isolated.”
    “Isolated?” Charli frowned.
    “I see him in bubble.”
    “That’s interesting, but there’s one small problem.” She came around the desk as Golubkhov struggled into her crutches. “You see, I don’t have a man I love.”
    “You love no one?”
    Charli shook her head.
    “Is sad. For creature like me, maybe not so sad, but for intelligent, beautiful woman like you? Is sad.”
    After her guest left, and after a moment of feeling sorry for herself, Charli asked her assistant to call McGraw.
    “Hi Seth,” she said when he came on the line, “Anything new?”
    “That object, DJ1, is fascinating. We think it may be significant. What did you call about?”
    “By coincidence I’m calling about DJ1. Can you tell me where it is?”
    “It’s