When I reached the factory I found Knowlton pacing the floor.
"I've been wanting to get you all day, Ted. I didn't like to call you up at the Claybournes', as I knew you'd be here at six. There's the devil to pay."
"What do you mean?"
"Prospero's companion, the circus woman, has gone. All your chemistry notes of our experiments have disappeared too. Prospero is in his room raving drunk. He swears you have tricked him and stolen the secret of his great discovery. He threatens law, murder, anything he can think of."
"That part is all right," I said. "The notes are serious."
"Can you reconstruct them?"
"Not all," I answered "without repeating part of the experiments."
"How long will that take?"
"A minimum of six weeks."
"I was a triple damn fool, Ted, not to keep a copy of your work in the office safe. There's the Texas contract which we must begin work on tomorrow. Do you know the formula?"