The hands were long and slender, but the tapering fingers showed that they possessed great strength. Upon one finger — the third of the left hand — glowed a large, mysterious gem.
Its colors changed beneath the light. One moment it was a deep blue. Then the jewel shimmered and took on a crimson hue. It sparkled and seemed to emit shafts of flame.
The stone was a girasol called the fire opal, because of its resplendency. There was no other jewel like it in all the world.
As the girasol glimmered, the hands produced pencil and paper. The pointed fingers wrote three names: Silas Harshaw, Louis Glenn, Thomas Sutton.
Beneath these a blank space remained. The hand made a check mark beside the name of Thomas Sutton. There, it placed the letters “Med.”
Now a small pamphlet came into view. Opened, it showed a list of the members of the Merrimac Club.
A low laugh echoed as the hand checked off a name in the book. Then the fingers added a check mark beside the written name of Louis Glenn.
Beside the written name of Silas Harshaw, the hand wrote the words:
Resume investigation.
The hand paused above the written list. Running to the bottom, it inscribed another name, segregated below. The name it wrote was Arthur Wilhelm.