“Roth might have warned him, but he had not. He had clearly chosen his words deliberately, in order to give no sign. The official was a woman. There was no reason for this not to be. Any official might be a woman. The Secretary-General might be a woman. There were women on the police force, even a woman with the rank of captain. It was just that, without warning, one didn’t expect it in any given case. There were times in history when women entered administrative posts in considerable numbers. Baley knew that; he knew history well. But this wasn’t one of those times.”