"I see."
Lang took over the questioning. "Are there any other persons living here, Mrs. Clayhorn? Any boarders?"
"No, there's only the three of us."
"Well, is Eddie interested in anything of a, well, a scientific nature? In school, perhaps?"
"Oh, Lord, no. He hasn't had any real science subjects yet. He's only in the fifth grade. His best subject is history, but that's because he likes to read, and history is all reading. He got that from me, I read all the time."
"He doesn't have one of these junior chemistry sets, then, or anything like that?"
"No, not at all. He just isn't interested. We even got him an Erector set last Christmas, and he played with it for a day or two and then gave it up completely and went back to reading."
"The thing is," said Stevenson, with ill-concealed desperation, "he does have this machine."
"Are you sure it's Eddie?"
"Yes, mam, we're sure."