In a list, on the order they had come, he put down the sounds he thought might be important, and even those that did not seem to have any bearing on the mystery. Opposite them, he set down as many interpretations as he could figure out.
His list, finished, he scanned thoughtfully. It ran:
| Sound | Meanings |
|---|---|
| Clicks and hisses on film. | Claws on glass cage. Rats clawing at the glass inside to get out. Might be a clue to something. |
| A faint click in headset. | A distant relay switching in on a heating oil-burner. Some electrical device somewhere. Does not seem much because it didn’t have any effects after it. |
| A thump in the corner of the upstairs room before I started the camera. | Some trash in the corner shifted. A film in its can shifted. The wall contracting. Plaster fell. It started me taking pictures that turned out to have animals, when none were there, but I do not see any bearing on our case. |
| The Voice of Doom. | A hoarse voice coming from a room with nobody there. Ventriloquism. Important, but how? |
| The Voice of Doom’s cry. | Either somebody screaming and being tortured, or somebody pretending it. Or some natural sound like a fog-siren. Must be important. Might be a clue to some place or person. |
| The last two on a record. | Both sounds just like before and clear. Same meanings I think. Must be clues. But how? |
| The record of same in Dr. Ryder’s room. | Like the others, only rougher as if it had been made with the needle out of exact adjustment, but strong sounds. |
| The Doctor’s voice after the Voice of Doom. | Had waits between sentences. Was his voice, though. Other one answering not audible with 3 stages audio. |
| Ticks or drip-drip. | Must have been safe combination being operated. How would it be known? Not to a stranger. Doctor Ryder couldn’t get it. Grover leaves no memoranda on it. |
| Both alarms at home at start. | Can’t mean anything, know what it was, but it was a sound-clue in a way. No fire. Why did fire alarm go off? How start? Monkey? Kangaroo hitting it with paw? |
He seemed not to remember any more. He studied his list, trying to find others to add, new interpretations; but to no avail.
He thought that if he tried increasing and adding radio-frequency tuning and amplification to his speaker-circuit—make it a regular radio, in fact, he might get any possible radio sending if that could account for the silent spaces on the last record.
He made his circuits up, set the electric pick-up over the start of the record; but with the new hookup he got no new slant.
Only one small addition to his list of sounds, bringing his total up to eleven sound-clues—possibly—was the little thump, or thud that the needle transmitted before starting in on the voice with no speaker answering in its silent waits. Roger could get no further.
He took his series of eleven sounds, including the alarm bell and the thump that could have been a tiny flaw of the record just on the sound track, and went to Grover.
“Here are the sounds,” he declared. “Maybe one will clear up all your tangles.”
At least, studying the list, Grover was more alert, less depressed, Roger saw with relief.