Edward Malone, a reporter on the Gazette, asks Gladys Hungerton to marry him but she is only interested in having a hero for her husband. She hints that she might accept his proposal if he becomes famous. Malone dashes off to the offices of the Gazette full of hope. Malone asks his boss, McArdle, for a dangerous assignment. He suggests that Malone expose Professor Challenger as a fraud. Malone goes to the Savage Club and asks his friend, Tarp Henry, to tell him more about the professor. With Henry’s help, Malone writes a letter to Challenger asking if he might visit him. He pretends to be a student admirer and asks for clarification on a controversial paper Challenger presented in Vienna.