By the way, have you noticed that his digital printing machines are just lounging in the halls here, Arkady Arkadievich? In the middle of all sorts of garbage. And Valentin Vasilyevich worked so hard at getting them, writing endless streams of memos. I mean, he could give them to somebody else if he has no use for them himself.” Harry Haritonovich sighed deeply and looked over to the right. “Must be another student! Tsk, tsk, dear, dear! Another student, there's a plague on them here….” He noticed that the detective had returned. “Oh, good day, Apollon Matveevich! Seeing us once more, eh?”

“Matvei Apollonovich,” Onisimov corrected.

He opened a yellow box marked “Material Evidence” with a black stencil, took out a test tube, and crouched over the puddle.

“I mean Matvei Apollonovich — please forgive me. I do remember you very well from last time. I just scrambled name and patronymic a little. Matvei Apollonovich, of course. How could I? We talked about you for a long time after, how organized and efficient you were, and everything….” Hilobok went on and on.

“Comrade Director, what was the nature of the work done in this laboratory?” the detective interrupted, catching some liquid in the test tube.

“Research on self — organizing electronic systems with an integral input of information,” the academician replied. “Anyway, that was how Valentin Vasilyevich had formulated his thesis at the beginning of the year.”

“I see.” Onisimov got up, sniffed the liquid, wiped the tube clean with a piece of cotton, and put it away. “Was the use of poisonous chemicals ruled out?”

“I don't know. I would think that nothing was forbidden. Research is done by the researcher as he best sees fit.”

“So what went so wrong here in Krivoshein's lab that even you, Arkady Arkadievich, were disturbed so early in the morning?” Hilobok asked, lowering his voice. “Precisely — what?” Onisimov was directing his questions to the academician. “The short circuit had nothing to do with it. It was merely an accident, and not the cause. We've determined that much. There is no sign of electrocution, no traumas on the body… and the man is gone. And what is this contraption? What's it for?”