"Nothing, sir," said Lépine firmly. "I have thought of it all day, and I can see in it nothing except coincidence."
"Coincidence! Coincidence! I detest the word—I do not believe in coincidence!" muttered the Minister.
"Nor I," agreed Lépine; "but even less do I believe in vague theories and vague suspicions. We must have a firm foundation before we begin to build."
"Well, and the third theory?" said Delcassé, at last.
"The third theory was most interesting. It was that the explosion had been caused by waves from the wireless telegraph. It was asserted that these waves had upset the unstable equilibrium, either chemical or electrical, which sometimes exists in the components of modern powder, and that the explosion had resulted."
"And this theory also was disproved?"
"The most exhaustive tests failed to confirm it."
"Ah," said Delcassé; "but to fail to confirm a thing is not to disprove it."
"Our wireless experts agreed in pronouncing the theory absurd."
"Wireless waves penetrate metal, do they not?"