Irresistible to Women, also known as Call Me Irresistible, is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the January 1981 issue of Gallery magazine and later collected in The Union Club Mysteries.
Summary[]
Griswold recounts a case from his past involving a man who was mysteriously "irresistible" to women. This man was murdered, stabbed with a kitchen knife in his apartment by one of four women he had been simultaneously involved with. He had recently dismissed all four in favor of a new woman.
The police commissioner, a friend of Griswold's, asked for his help. Each of the four women—distinguished by their hair colors: black, brown, red, and blond—had the motive, means, and opportunity. All were enraged by their dismissal, and a witness saw a woman return to the apartment late on the night of the murder. However, all four women also claimed that in the man's presence, they felt such an overwhelming attraction that they could not have harmed him. None could identify the source of his allure, noting he was ordinary in appearance, voice, and conversation.
Griswold deduced that the man’s attraction was a natural, pheromone-based scent, which was potent because he used no artificial perfumes to mask it. The women, who also avoided heavy scents, were subconsciously drawn to this natural odor. To identify the killer, Griswold reasoned that the murderer would have to be immune to this effect at the time of the crime. He noted that one of the women, Brown-hair, displayed symptoms of a cold—sniffling and red eyes. A stuffy nose would have temporarily blocked her sense of smell, rendering her immune to the man's pheromonal attraction and freeing her to act on her anger. Griswold identified her as the killer.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- The "Irresistible" man
- The Police Commissioner
- The Black-hair Woman
- The Brown-hair Woman
- The Red-hair Woman
- The Blond-hair Woman
- The New Woman
- The Witnesses
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov