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argument about the faked data. The only person who could have overheard was Cap Anson. Brade accuses Anson of killing Ralph to prevent him from publishing the faked data (but does not mention the attempt on his own life). Anson denies the murder, but Doheny then tricks Anson into revealing that he knows about the attempt on Brade's life. Anson confesses to murdering Ralph and attempting to murder Brade.
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On Sunday, Brade reads through Ralph's research notebooks and realizes that Ralph's data had been faked, a cardinal sin in science. When Doheny returns, Brade tells him about the faking, suggesting it as a possible motive for suicide. Doheny, however, twists it around and says that Brade might have
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The story hinges on two chemical facts. First, the victim
Neufeld was in the habit of sniffing at the open neck of a flask in order to check that a reaction was occurring. Generally chemists must regard all chemicals as poison, but this habit was common practice and would have been safe with the
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The next day Brade again meets with Cap Anson, and immediately afterward in the lab, is almost killed by an oxygen cylinder which has been sabotaged. Now resolved to solve the mystery, he questions Ralph's fiancé Roberta
Goodhue in the presence of Doheny. She admits that she and Ralph had had an
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compounds. Brade notices the oil on the valve in time to save his life. Doheny tricks Anson by pretending to turn on the oxygen in his presence, causing him to warn Doheny to stop, revealing that he knew about the oil. Brade, however, had already cleaned the valve to remove the oil. (A similar
287:, both white powders. Later, Brade is questioned by Detective Doheny, who is in charge of Ralph's case. When he gets home, he reveals to his wife his suspicions that Ralph's death was murder. She cautions him not to tell this to anyone, as he would destroy any chance of getting an
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The next day, Brade meets with emeritus professor Cap Anson, who seems to blame him for Ralph's death. They visit the zoo together, and Anson encourages Brade to go into
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chemicals he intended to use. Substituting cyanide for acetate in the acidic solution produced hydrogen cyanide gas, which killed him. (However, the actual
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The novel was Asimov's first novel-length mystery (non-science fiction) story. He had already published several mystery short stories, later collected as
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Ralph
Neufeld – a paranoid research student of Brade. From Europe. Survivor of "something unpleasant" in which father and sister were killed.
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Second, valves on oxygen cylinders are never lubricated with oil, because oxygen under high pressure reacts with hydrocarbons to produce explosive
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whose research student dies while conducting an experiment. The professor attempts to determine if the death was accident, suicide or murder.
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Merill Foster – an assistant professor of organic chemistry. Colleague of Brade.
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Cap Anson – an organic chemist and Brade's former teacher.
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been trying to protect his own reputation by hiding the fraud.
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Roberta
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mechanism of murder appeared in Asimov's 1957 story "
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Arthur
Littleby – head of Brade's department.
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
397:(2012), TV movie directed by Behdad Avand Amini
267:series combined mystery with science fiction.
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683:Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
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247:, Asimov's preferred title). It is about a
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279:. In his experiment, he had somehow used
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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815:Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain
697:Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury
450:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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704:Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter
47:adding citations to reliable sources
711:Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn
690:Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus
16:1958 mystery novel by Isaac Asimov
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769:Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure
384:Jack Doheny – a policeman.
327:would be substantially higher.)
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325:lethal dose of the volatile gas
34:needs additional citations for
891:Mystery novels by Isaac Asimov
754:Norby and the Queen's Necklace
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417:"Hydrogen cyanide fact sheet"
359:Doris Brade – his wife.
774:Norby and the Oldest Dragon
744:Norby and the Lost Princess
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779:Norby and the Court Jester
733:Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot
676:David Starr, Space Ranger
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300:comparative biochemistry
886:American mystery novels
348:Louis Brade – an
289:associate professorship
896:Avon (publisher) books
749:Norby and the Invaders
649:Forward the Foundation
241:(later republished as
788:Other science fiction
759:Norby Finds a Villain
642:Prelude to Foundation
614:Foundation and Empire
577:The Currents of Space
448:title listing at the
378:. Colleague of Brade.
374:Otto Ranke – a
881:1958 American novels
739:Norby's Other Secret
723:The Norby Chronicles
635:Foundation and Earth
570:The Stars, Like Dust
43:improve this article
808:The Gods Themselves
796:The End of Eternity
764:Norby Down to Earth
350:assistant professor
237:by American writer
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58:"The Death Dealers"
540:The Robots of Dawn
526:The Caves of Steel
519:The Positronic Man
318:Background science
260:Asimov's Mysteries
122:The Death Dealers
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852:The Death Dealers
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304:chemical kinetics
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271:Plot summary
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
665:Lucky Starr
389:Adaptations
283:instead of
875:Categories
607:Foundation
596:Foundation
496:Foundation
485:Novels by
426:2022-07-12
402:References
343:Characters
249:university
233:is a 1958
69:newspapers
829:Nightfall
252:professor
212:Paperback
208:Hardcover
175:Publisher
99:July 2022
498:universe
157:Language
822:Nemesis
332:ozonide
206:Print (
169:Mystery
160:English
83:scholar
667:series
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293:tenure
265:Robots
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219:Pages
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