The Great Llewes (as he is invariably known) is an organic chemist who runs the successful firm of Central Organic Laboratories with an iron fist and a tendency to take credit for his employees' work.
As Farley's co-worker Jim Gorham inspects the wreckage of the atmosphere room with H. Seton Davenport of the Terrestrial Bureau of Investigation, he is convinced that the explosion could not have been an accident; Llewes was too safety-conscious for that.