An exclamation of surprise escaped Kennedy. Often he and I had discussed the subject and he had even done some work on it.
“Of course,” resumed Hastings, “we have had to acquire certain rights and the basic, pioneer patents are not ours. But the manner in which this telautomaton has been perfected over everything yet devised by inventors renders it the most valuable single piece of property we have. At last we have an efficient electric arm that we can stretch out through space to do our work and fight our battles. Our system will revolutionize industry as well as warfare.”
It was not difficult to catch the enthusiasm which Hastings showed over the telautomaton. There was something fascinating about the very idea.
Kennedy, however, shook his head gravely. “Too big a secret to be in the hands of a corporation,” he objected. “In warfare it should only be possessed by the Government, and in industry it is—well, it is a public service in itself. So that went to Marshall Maddox also?”
Hastings nodded.
“There will be trouble over that,” warned Kennedy. “Mark my words. It is too big a secret.” For a moment he pondered, then changed the subject. “What happened after the conference?”
“It was so late when we finished,” continued Hastings, “and there were still some minor details to be cleared up in the morning. We all decided to stay on the yacht rather than go ashore to the Harbor House. The Sybarite is a large yacht, and we each had a cabin, so that we all turned in. There wasn’t much sociability in a crowd like that to keep them up later than was necessary.”
“Yes,” prompted Kennedy as Hastings paused. “Marshall Maddox seemed all right when he retired?”
“Perfectly. I went into his cabin and we chatted a few moments before I went to mine, planning some steps we would take in the morning to clear things up, especially to release all claims on the telautomaton. I remember that Maddox seemed in very good spirits over the way things had been going, though very tired. To my mind, that removes the possibility of its having been suicide.”
“Nothing is impossible until it is proved so,” corrected Kennedy. “Go on. Tell me how it was discovered.”