When firemen arrived, the laboratory was the center of a mighty blaze. Heroic work had brought the flames under control, and in the wreckage of the place were found the mutilated remains of Clark Murdock. The body was not past recognition by those who had known the famous chemist. Among those who read the story with keen interest was a quiet-faced gentleman named Rutledge Mann. He was an investment broker who had his office in an upper story of one of Manhattan's new skyscrapers.
Secluded in his private office, Mann not only perused the account with deliberate care, but he concluded his study by clipping the story from the newspaper.
Mann opened a drawer in his desk and added the clipping to a mass of others. He sat with folded hands and stared in silence from the window. There was a rap at the door. In answer to Mann's response, a stenographer came in and placed an envelope upon her employer's desk.
When the girl had gone, Mann opened the envelope and took out a folded sheet of paper.
This proved to be a note inscribed in coded characters, which the investment broker read as easily as if it had been written in ordinary letters. He nodded as he read and when he had finished, Mann laid the paper on his desk. He picked up the telephone and gave a number.
While Mann was telephoning, the inscription on the letter began to fade. It disappeared completely, as if an invisible hand had stretched from nowhere to eradicate the writing.
Concluding a brief telephone conversation Mann picked up the blank sheet as though nothing had happened and tore the paper to fragments.
An hour later, a young man called at the office of Rutledge Mann. This was Clyde Burke, a newspaper reporter on the staff of the New York 'Classic'. He and Mann immediately engaged in a short, confidential conversation. It concerned a paragraph in the story of Clark Murdock's death
"Notice these names," said Mann quietly, pointing to the paragraph. "These men were at Murdock's home last night. They witnessed a demonstration of his atomic disintegration and then left. See what you can get me on each of them."
Burke nodded and left. Rutledge Mann turned his attention from newspaper clippings to investments. It was late in the afternoon when Clyde Burke returned. The reporter laid an envelope on Mann's desk and made an immediate departure.