"To begin with," said the Greek, focusing attentively on me, "you wonder, perhaps, what I was doing when you came in."
"I do," I said.
He hesitated. "Certain—particles, which are of importance to my research, have a tendency to go free. I can keep them under a measure of control only by means of electrostatic forces, generated in this." He waved the thing that looked like a toaster on a stick. "And as for what they do—well, watch."
l Greco began to putter with gleamy, glassy gadgets on one of the tables and I watched him with, I admit, a certain amount of suspicion.
"What are you doing, Greek?" I asked pretty bluntly.
He looked up. Surprisingly, I saw that the suspicion was mutual; he frowned and hesitated. Then he shook his head.
"No," he said. "For a minute I—but I can trust you, can't I? The man who kept my secret for ten long years."
"Of course," I said.