The plant was closed down tight. All of the other gates were securely locked and would remain closed until morning. The guard hadn’t seen anyone leave or enter the building. He didn’t know whether or not the office was occupied but it was reasonable to suppose that someone might be working late. Talbot stood back and looked. The light wasn’t visible from the corridor entrance. Talbot told the guard to stop anyone who came out. He went in and made a tour of the offices. They were all dark. The man in the lighted office had apparently heard Talbot enter the building and had left ahead of him. Talbot moved warily into the main shop. It was huge, cavernous and dim. He would not have been able to see at all except for the luminous strip which edged the aisles. Shadows loomed on the walls and ceiling and it would have been a simple matter for an intruder to conceal himself behind one of the machines. He went on. None of the laboratories were lighted. Back and forth across the plant he went, always sure there was a man just ahead of him he could never quite overtake. He turned and had begun to retrace his route when a light snapped on in the middle section of the building. He felt the gun in his pocket and walked to the edge of the circle of light. Frescura was standing completely motionless behind a machine, his head inclined. He looked up abruptly as Talbot approached. “I knew you would come back,” said Talbot. “I did,” acknowledged Frescura. “You lied this afternoon,” Talbot said. “Randy didn’t ‘accidentally’ touch the button which enabled you to hear what I was saying. She wasn’t there. You sent her away so that you could listen.” Frescura smiled and said nothing. “You figured out what I was going to recommend to Taft. But you wanted to be sure. Another thing, I didn’t slip. You knew from the beginning or you would never have thought of the fingerprint subterfuge. You had to be the one who rolled in the bomb.” “Of course,” said Frescura. “Soleri confided to only two people that he was going to bring you in--myself and Randy. If Soleri had survived he would have remembered that. Therefore I guessed the truth instantly. I knew what you were capable of. That’s why I tried to get rid of both you, and Soleri.” “You must have sweated while I was in the hospital,” said Talbot. “It’s a good thing Randy was watching over me.” “It was a good thing for you that I was nervous,” said Frescura. “Later, when you got well and didn’t say anything I knew exactly what had happened. I thought I could handle you.” “That was your biggest mistake. I caused all sorts of trouble. But why did you have to get rid of anyone? Was it because you were close to success? Or because you wanted the discovery for yourself when the company failed?”