Then he held the watch out where all could see it.
They bent closer and strained their eyes at the little second hand ticking away merrily.
As the minute hand touched three, from the back of the case, as if from the casing itself, a little needle, perhaps a quarter of an inch, jumped out. It seemed to come from what looked like merely a small inset in the decorations.
"You see what will happen at the hour of three?" he asked.
No one said a word, as he held up a vial which he had drawn from his pocket. On it they could read the label, "Ricinus."
"One of the most powerful poisons in the world!" he exclaimed. "Enough here to kill a regiment!"
They fairly gasped and looked at it with horror, exchanging glances. Then they looked at him in awe. There was no wonder that Clutching Hand kept them in line, once he had a crook in his power.
Opening the vial carefully, he dipped in a thin piece of glass and placed a tiny drop in a receptacle back of the needle and on the needle itself.
Altogether it savored of the ancient days of the Borgias with their weird poisoned rings.
Then he dropped the vial back into his pocket, pressed a spring, and the needle went back into its unsuspected hiding place.