 Why do the Altairians let Zeckler go?
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. 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. They spread out from Terra with the first wave of exploration—the slick, fast-talking con-men who could work new territories unfettered by the legal restrictions that soon closed down the more established planets. The first men in were the richest out, and through some curious quirk of the Terrestrial mind, they knew they could count on Terran protection, however crooked and underhand their methods. Altair I had been recognized at once by the Trading Commission as a commercial prize of tremendous value, but early reports had warned of the danger of wildcat trading on the little, musty, jungle-like planet with its shaggy, three-eyed inhabitants—warned specifically against the confidence tactics so frequently used—but there was always somebody, Meyerhoff reflected sourly, who just didn't get the word. They've built up the most confusing and impossible system of barter and trade imaginable, aimed at individual survival, with land as the value behind the credit. Encroachment on private property is legal grounds for murder on this planet, and twelve of them descended on the same chunk of land at the same time, all armed with title-deeds." He jerked it inward sharply, and spilled two guards over on their faces. Zeckler followed the shaggy-haired guard into the room, nodding approvingly. Loud, harsh voices were heard as half a dozen of the huge Altairians attempted to push through the door at once. Finally the question of precedent seemed to be settled, and a group of the Altairians filed in, in order of stature, stalking across the room in flowing black robes, pug-nosed faces glowering with self-importance. Finally the judge glared down at Zeckler with all three eyes, and pounded the bench top with a wooden mallet until the roar of activity subsided. "We are reading the case of the people of Altair I," the judge's voice roared out, "against one Harry Zeckler—" he paused for a long, impressive moment—"Terran." "Conspiracy to overthrow the government of Altair I. Brutal murder of seventeen law-abiding citizens of the village of Karzan at the third hour before dawn in the second period after his arrival. Conspiracy with the lesser gods to cause the unprecedented drought in the Dermatti section of our fair globe.
 They let Zeckler go because he is the best liar.
 They let Zeckler go because he did not murder any Altairians.  They let Zeckler go because he is the best liar.  They let Zeckler go because Altairian law doesn't apply to Earthmen.  They let Zeckler go because he converted to the religion of the Altairian Goddess.