Two Women, also known as Cherchez la Femme: the Case of the Disappearing Woman, is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the October 1982 issue of Gallery magazine. Later collected in The Union Club Mysteries.
Summary[]
At the Union Club, Griswold recounts a case brought to him by a distraught woman, Mrs. Harkness. Her twenty-eight years old daughter, a self-sufficient medical artist, had announced plans to travel to Europe over a year prior and had subsequently disappeared. She had moved out of her Philadelphia apartment, placed her furniture in storage, and left no trace. Mrs. Harkness, initially unconcerned, grew panicked after a year of no contact and sought Griswold's help.
Griswold consulted a contact in the police Missing Persons department. A computer search revealed no report matching the daughter's description. The lieutenant, however, mentioned an unrelated case: a suspected female terrorist of similar physical description had recently vanished from New York just before a police raid. Eager to identify this woman and gain an advantage over the FBI, the lieutenant suggested that the terrorist and the missing daughter might be the same person. He proposed having Mrs. Harkness identify her daughter based on the extensive inventory of feminine and methodically stocked belongings found in the terrorist's apartment.
Griswold reviewed the detailed list of the terrorist's possessions, which included a vast array of cosmetics, toiletries, and other items emphasizing a feminine and prepared lifestyle. He noticed a critical omission: there was no mention of tampons or sanitary napkins. He reasoned that a methodical woman under thirty, like Miss Harkness, would certainly have such supplies. The absence indicated the terrorist was likely a post-menopausal woman over fifty. Griswold informed the lieutenant that the two women were not the same, preventing a police misstep. The terrorist was later apprehended and confirmed to be an older woman. The fate of Miss Harkness remained unknown.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Jennings
- Baranov
- Mrs. Harkness
- Miss Harkness
- Lieutenant Delaney
- The Female Terrorist
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov