"Mr. Gerrod, Miss Hawkins," he nodded to them, and then said: "They tell me Professor Hawkins is dead. The Narrows are frozen over again. Hampton Roads is frozen over. Charleston is frozen over. The Panama Canal is frozen over! There's no steam plume to blow up. Washington is worried. They're calling me to clear out the channel. The navy department is going crazy. If it were a case of fighting men I'd know something, but I can't fight a chemical combination. What's to be done, since the professor is dead? Who on earth can fill his place?" He looked from one to the other, already beginning to show the strain under which he was laboring. "Professor Hawkins," said Teddy quietly, "was murdered by Varrhus some four hours ago." "Murdered! Varrhus has been here!" "No, Varrhus has not been here, but we may be able to trace him. I'll get the police. Then we'll talk about ice floes. We know Varrhus' method now. We'll soon be able to anticipate him." "But in the meantime," the commandant snapped angrily, "he'll play the devil with the world." "We'll play the devil with him when he is caught," said Teddy evenly. "I've no intention of letting Varrhus get away. Just now there's a possibility of catching him in the ordinary way. He mailed a present to the professor, an antique bracelet. Ancient jewelry was the professor's hobby. He examined the bracelet and died. "I heard he was dead," said the commandant restlessly. "The paper said heart failure." "So did the doctor." Teddy took down the receiver of the telephone. "Give me police emergency, please." In a few moments he hung up again. The statement that Professor Hawkins had been murdered and that there was a chance of catching Varrhus was all he needed to say. Hardly five minutes had passed before the commissioner of police himself was in the room with two of his keenest men. "You'll have to explain what happened," he said at once to Teddy. "When news of the professor's death came I phoned at once to the doctor mentioned in the paper and asked if there were any possibility of foul play. To tell the truth, I'd been rather afraid something like this might happen. What was it?" "Varrhus electrocuted the professor by an antique bracelet." He handed over the ornament. The commissioner examined it gingerly. "Nothing funny about this except the workmanship." "And the surface," said Teddy. His set calm was surprising himself. "It looks as if it had been lacquered. That's Varrhus' secret." "What is it? A powerful battery?" Teddy turned to the materials with which he and Evelyn had been working.