Penny gets a lucky break -- sorta

Just that moment the same blonde woman who had tormented Penny earlier came into the room and asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just going to swat this fly on this statue," said Leonard.

"Would you swat that same fly if it were on the Mona Lisa?" asked the blonde woman.

"Well, no," said Leonard. "But then you don't generally think of flies being likely to be on the Mona Lisa."

"Whatever," said the blonde woman. "Just please don't touch that thing with anything whatsoever. My brother and I paid a lot of money for that living statue."

"Living statue?" asked Sheldon. "You mean you got a Dr. Frankenstein to bring that statue to life?"

"No, Sheldon," said Raj. "She means the statue is actually a real live person who was hired to act like a statue."

"How do you know so much about that?" asked Howard.

"Er, no reason," said Raj, suddenly looking guilty.

"Hmm," said Sheldon. "Interesting. I can't imagine anyone being patient enough to just stand there for hours doing nothing. I guess you're paid this person a lot of money."

"Not as much as you'd think," said the blonde.

"Why is that?" asked Howard. "Is there that much competition for living statue gigs?"

"Not really," said the blonde. "If we were in Europe or Japan, we'd have to pay a whole lot more. Though I imagine if you're an out-of-work deadbeat, the chintzy amount of money we're paying out must seem like a fortune."

All the while, Penny was trying to keep calm. Don't say anything, she thought. Don't say anything. Don't say anything. She's just trying to get your goat. And look, the boys don't even suspect.

"It's a shame Penny ain't here," said Leonard. "She'd probably think this was a real hoot."

"I don't know," said Raj. "What makes you so sure it isn't Penny?"

"Don't be silly, Raj," said Sheldon. "We all know that Penny isn't the brightest girl in the world but it's hard to imagine her being stupid enough to get a job that would require her to show her naked body to a crowd of strangers. Though come to think of it, maybe she is stupid enough."

"I am not!" screamed Penny.

Then she blushed when she noticed everyone in the room staring at her.