Looking over his list, in the light of what had happened, Roger was inclined to drop out the seemingly unimportant fact that the case had begun when both the fire and the protective system alarms had rung. He felt that it had no discernible connection with his mystery, being so easily accounted for by the fact that an ape and a kangaroo had evidently gamboled around in the studio, setting off alarms unwittingly.

Still, half-hesitant, he left it in, but re-wrote his list, so as to put what seemed important in order, rather than try to follow the succession of historical order, as he had done before.

His list, thus revised and added to, ran this way:

Sound Possible Meaning
1. Frying-grease-like clicks and hisses and pops. Claws of animal. Radiator valve with steam coming in. A snake, with its scales rattling. A lizard, like the big Iguanas.
2. Voice of Doom. Tibetans’ trick to frighten. A recording made in Tibet.
3. Voice of Doom again. On a record supposed to be new. Query: how did Tibetans know all about our stock to substitute? Query, could Ellison have done it?
4. Doctor Ryder’s talk with man on record with No. 3. Voice was his. We thought and he admitted it was Mr. Clark he was talking with. Query, we thought it was to conceal identity that Mr. Clark wrote; wonder if it was not a talk with him in room, if he telephoned instead? Is Mr. Clark completely cleared: he is a jeweler.
5. Clicks in headset. Could be so many electrical switch noises or relays, but why was it so close to hearing Voice of Doom?
6. Drip or click in dark. Was just before safe was opened, but was it the combination being worked by expert who could tell by sound when tumblers fell right? Does that make me think of Clark, a jeweler? Not Tibetans as we had thought from circumstances. Is Ellison able to work a combination “by ear”?
7. Thump or thud sound. Seemed to come in corner of room upstairs just before I took the film that produced the animal ‘ghosts’ after we had heard Voice of Doom from up there. I wonder how important it really is, or if it was just plaster or a film in a can?
8. A sort of thump on Record when Dr. Ryder vanished. We thought he had been knocked down by a blow with recorder operating. But it turned out he had gone away with Clark. Or so Clark said. Has Clark got some hold over Doctor Ryder that made him go after a telephone summons? Was that thump the telephone taken off hook? Not likely as it would be a click like what I heard in headset. Do these tell me anything?
9. The cry of fire and crackle of flame on unused record in my room. No fire, and no reason for cry. Wait! It was like what old Astrovox said when we were collecting old papers in upper room? Is it possible anybody made a record of it? But Potts was the only one who was fixing protection machines in my room. Yes, and Potts says he threw away what turns out to be the real Eye of Om. Oh, it can’t be.
10. Both alarms went off when mystery began. Can’t mean anything but I feel like keeping it on record.
11. Shot recorded in the lab films at same time as flash. A brain-teaser. It was an explosive sound, that synchronized with flash in film: and there was the smell of burned powder. How does it fit? Did Clark or Ellison do it to try to shoot the man at the desk? Or did either one do it at the other?
12. The Tibetan talked English. It is ‘sound’ and might have some clue, he used English in a Tibet monastery, and in America again.
13. The whistle and moan in Tibet same as on recordings. Wind howling as it blew hard or gentle in tunnel and Buddha-whistle. But no ‘grind’ in Tibet.
14. Grind as if rocks on records, after Voice of Doom. Missing in real Tibet sound, as rock was counter-weighted and moved silently open and shut. Seems important, because it was on record probably made in Tibet and brought here by—Tibet lama? Clark? Ellison? Zendt?
15. Voice of Doom heard by Astrovox. Was it record, same as others? Or what? I must ask when he recovers if it had grind at end of moan.

Those, as far as he could recall, were his sound-clues.

Chapter 27
A “THERMAL” TRICK

With every meaning that he tried to attach to his listings, Roger found himself growing more confused.

He had only imaginative evidence against any of the names he had inserted in his diary-like notations. As he scanned his list Roger saw that he had done less interpreting than speculating; but he saw no way to make interpretation of the listings get him anywhere.

He filed it with his former list, and went to his routine, so that Toby could go to dinner.

The rest of the day was without apparent development.