"Will you go upstairs and look at his fingers—inside? I was—crossing his hands—on his breast. Please look."
Teddy went soberly up the stairs to where the professor lay quietly on the bed he was occupying for the last time. Teddy turned back the sheet that covered the figure and looked at the gentle old face. A lump came in his throat, and he hastily turned his eyes away. He lifted the sheet until the professor's thin hands came into view. He looked, at the fingers, then lifted one of the white hands and examined the inside. Small but deep burns disfigured the finger tips. When Teddy went down-stairs his face was white and set, and a great anger burned in him.
"You are right, Evelyn," he said grimly. "Where is the bracelet he was holding when he was found?"
"On the acids table. He was lying beside it when—when I saw him." Evelyn was grief-stricken, but she forced herself to be calm. "Do you think you know what happened?"
"I'm not sure."
Teddy went quietly into the laboratory and found the massive silver bracelet lying where Evelyn had said. He looked at it carefully before he touched it, and when he lifted it it was in a pair of wooden tongs.
"That thermo-couple, Evelyn, please. And start the small generator, won't you?"
The two worked on the bracelet for half an hour, then stopped and stared at each other, their suspicions confirmed.
"Varrhus," said Teddy slowly. "Varrhus caused your father's death. This earth has gotten too small for both Varrhus and me to live on."
"He knew father could wreck his plans," Evelyn said in a hard voice, "and he wished to rule the world. So he killed my father."