“You must pardon me for a few minutes,” he said. “I can discuss this with you later. I was working in my laboratory when you called, and I must return there.”
He started away, then motioned to Burke.
“Come along, if you wish,” he added. “My laboratory may interest you.”
He led the way through two curtains at the side of the room. He unlocked a strong door, and Burke followed him. They entered a large room, fully equipped with apparatus.
Doctor Palermo stopped at a white-porcelain table where a bowl of green liquid was boiling above a gas burner. The physician took a small vial from a shelf, and poured a few drops from it into the bowl.
Immediately the bubbling ceased, and as the liquid simmered, it changed from green to a deep red.
“One of my experiments,” explained Doctor Palermo. “It may develop into a great scientific discovery.
Hassan!”
His last word was a loud exclamation. It startled Burke. He could not understand its significance, until he saw a huge brown man appear through a door at the side of the laboratory.
The man was dressed in a white robe, and wore a white head-covering. To Burke’s imaginative mind, he might have been a jinni of the “Arabian Nights,” summoned at his master’s command.