Dr. Marcel Yarmolinsky is a Talmudic scholar who is the first victim in the string of murders that takes pace in “Death and the Compass.” When Lönnrot investigates the murder, he finds a piece of paper in Yarmolinsky’s typewriter that reads: “The first letter of the Name has been spoken.” This causes Lönnrot to develop a complex theory about why Yarmolinsky was killed—a theory involving Talmudic interpretations. In the end, though, Red Scarlach (the murderer) tells him that Yarmonlinsky wrote this sentence himself before he died and that it had nothing to do with the murder.