. . .
Kennedy had turned from his futile examination for marks on the
telephone. There stood the safe, a moderate sized strong box but
of a modern type. He tried the door. It was locked. There was not
a mark on it. The combination had not been tampered with. Nor had
there been any attempt to "soup" the safe.
With a quick motion he felt in his pocket as if looking for
gloves. Finding none, he glanced about, and seized a pair of tongs
from beside the grate. With them, in order not to confuse any
possible finger prints on the bust, he lifted it off. I gave a
gasp of surprise.
There, in the top of the safe, yawned a gaping hole through which
one could have thrust his arm!
"What is it?" we asked, crowding about him.
"Thermit," he replied laconically.
"Thermit?" I repeated.
"Yes--a compound of iron oxide and powdered aluminum invented by a
chemist at Essen, Germany. It gives a temperature of over five
thousand degrees. It will eat its way through the strongest
steel."
Jennings, his mouth wide open with wonder, advanced to take the
bust from Kennedy.
"No--don't touch it," he waved him off, laying the bust on the
desk. "I want no one to touch it--don't you see how careful I was
to use the tongs that there might be no question about any clue
this fellow may have left on the marble?"
As he spoke, Craig was dusting over the surface of the bust with
some black powder.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29