"Really, Joseph, it's nothing." The little man squirmed nervously, his goatee hanging guiltily to one side. "I'm not surprised at all. Really I'm not!"
"Oh, you're not, aren't you?" Professor Paulsen started across the room with grim determination, his eyes sharp. "Well, then—"
"Joseph—"
The scientist reached for his colleague's shoulder. But the shoulder slipped away. Henry dived frantically for the doorway.
"Oh, no, you don't!"
Spinning about with surprising agility, the professor's hand speared out. It stabbed home to its goal on Henry's chin with deadly aim. Caught the little man's goatee in a grip that stopped his headlong rush dead still.
"Joseph!" screamed Henry, his eyes filling with tears. "Stop it! You're hurting!"
"And I intend to keep right on hurting until I get the truth out of you, you amoeba-brained atom!" thundered the other. "I can smell your lies a block away—and this is one time you're not going to get away with it! Now: tell me who the red-headed man was."
"I don't know, Joseph! Really—"