 Why does Meyerhoff arrest Zeckler?
Meyerhoff followed the huge, bear-like Altairian guard down the slippery flagstones of the corridor, sniffing the dead, musty air with distaste. He drew his carefully tailored Terran-styled jacket closer about his shoulders, shivering as his eyes avoided the black, yawning cell-holes they were passing. There was a startled gasp from within, and a skinny, gnarled little man suddenly appeared in the guard's light, like a grotesque, twisted ghost out of the blackness. Wide blue eyes regarded Meyerhoff from beneath uneven black eyebrows, and then the little man's face broke into a crafty grin. He executed a deep, awkward bow, motioning Meyerhoff into the dark cubicle. Interplanetary ruling. "It's about time you showed up!" cried the little man in the cell. Why, I've been in here for years—" "Look, Zeckler, the name is Meyerhoff, and I'm not your pal," Meyerhoff snapped. "So Harry Zeckler's in a jam again," he said. "These overgrown teddy-bears don't know what brotherhood means, nor humanity, either. I sent an appeal to the Terran Consulate the first day I was arrested. I mean, all they had to do was get a man over here, get the extradition papers signed, and provide transportation off the planet for me. I've been sitting here rotting—" He broke off in mid-sentence and stared at Meyerhoff. I've got three million credits sitting in the Terran Consulate on Altair V, just waiting for me to walk in and pick them up. If you live long enough to walk in and pick them up, that is." "What do you mean, if?" Meyerhoff sank down beside the man, his voice a tense whisper in the musty cell. "I mean that right now you are practically dead. No, nothing so simple for you. And the Terran Consulate isn't willing to sell all the trading possibilities here down the river just to get you out of a mess. You're going to stand trial—and these natives are out to get you. Zeckler stood up shakily. "You've committed the most heinous crime these creatures can imagine, and they're going to get you for it if it's the last thing they do. I'm afraid, my friend, that your con-man days are over." Zeckler fished in the other man's pocket, extracted a cigarette, and lighted it with trembling fingers.
 He arrests Zeckler for undermining the authority of the Terran Trading Commission.
 He arrests Zeckler for perjury.  He arrests Zeckler for undermining the authority of the Terran Trading Commission.  He arrests Zeckler for murdering eighteen Altairians.  He arrests Zeckler for selling the same plot of land to a dozen different Altairians.