Part 7 (1/2)
THE terrified men looked at the two motionless forms on the floor. The faces of the two were steaming in the frigid air, but the pair looked entirely lifeless.
”We'll spill whatever you want!” one man groaned.
”Who's your boss?” Doc demanded.
”Velvet and Biff,” the man replied uneasily.
”But who gives Velvet and Biff their orders?”
”We don't know-honest we don't!” wailed the man. ”Listen, here's how it is. Velvet and Biff showed up in New York. They had a deal on. They wanted some boys to help 'em out, and they hired us.”
”Hired you to do what?”
”Well, we been watchin' all the incomin' steams.h.i.+ps from South America,” the man explained. ”We always got the pa.s.senger list. We hunted for one certain man-John Acre. Tonight we found out he had come in on the Junio.”
”And you decoyed John Acre to the front of the Midas club, where you seized him,” Doc elaborated.
”That's right, boss!”
The man was talking freely, although in a scared voice.
”Where is John Acre now?” Doc questioned.
”We don't know. Velvet and Biff took him off somewhere.””Where did Velvet and Biff take the girl?”
”To the same place they're holdin' John Acre, wherever that is.”
”This information is not very helpful,” Doc said grimly. ”You birds had better cough up something worth while.”
”We don't know much, and that's the truth, boss,” the crook whimpered. ”Velvet and Biff are from some place in South America. They're workin' for somethin' they call the Little White Brother.”
”You mean a man called the Little White Brother?”
The scared crook s.h.i.+vered. ”I don't know if it's a man or not. Sometimes they talk like the thing ain't-ain't human.”
Doc's flaky golden eyes dominated the fellow. ”Don't try to kid me.”
”It's the truth, mister. The Little White Brother may not be human. It's somethin' that shakes the earth!”
It was rarely that Doc showed any emotion whatever, but now he frowned.
”What?” he demanded.
”That's all we know, boss,” the other whined. ”The Little White Brother has got somethin' to do with the earth shakin'. I dunno what the thing is, but I've seen Velvet and Biff get as white as if they was about to be killed when they heard the rumble of a subway train, or the shock of blastin', or somethin' like that.”
Doc Savage asked a few more questions, but he learned nothing of value. He kept at it until he was convinced that the prisoners had told all they really knew. They were merely hirelings.
Doc Savage produced his hypodermic needle again. He went to each of the captives in quick succession, and jabbed the needle into every man. The last two screamed and tried to flee. Monk and Renny caught them. The men all sank to the floor and became motionless.
They were only sleeping, however. The drug in Doc's needle merely produced unconsciousness.
The prisoners were now carried out and placed in the sedan. To get all seven in the rear seat, it was necessary to pack them sardine fas.h.i.+on.
NONE of Doc's aids asked what disposition was to be made of the unconscious prisoners. They knew.
Crooks who fell into the hands of Doc Savage were handled in a peculiar fas.h.i.+on. They were taken to an inst.i.tution Doc maintained in the up-State section of New York. Here they underwent a delicate brain operation, which completely wiped out all knowledge of their past.
Then they received training in the ideals of upright citizenry, and were taught a trade.
Monk and Ham took charge of the sedan. Doc, Long Tom, and Renny trailed them in the roadster. The trip back into New York City was made in quick time.
The prisoners were left in a small room in a shabby section of the city. The windows of the room were barred, and there was a rear door which opened upon an obscure alley.
The captives would sleep for many hours yet. Long before they awakened, an ambulance would appear.
Silent, grim attendants would load them aboard. They would be whisked away into the blizzard.
Months later, seven honest citizens would walk away from the grim walls in up-state New York.
Doc Savage placed a long-distance telephone call from the room. The call was to summon the ambulance which would carry the men away.That task done, Doc and his men drove directly to the skysc.r.a.per which housed the bronze man's headquarters.
As Doc drove up to the garage door, it opened mysteriously.
Monk, noting this, scratched his head vigorously. He still did not understand why those doors swung ajar at Doc's approach.
The doors of the high-speed elevator also slid back as Doc approached. The cage lifted them. It started off with a shock that jerked every one except Doc to their knees. It raced up at an incredible speed. Its stop was so abrupt that it seemed certain that they would go sailing on up through the ceiling.
The door of Doc's office opened itself for him.
The panel, swinging ajar, revealed the sprawled body of a man. There was not much doubt that the fellow was dead. His head was nearly severed from his body.
Chapter VI. THE MAN WHO COULDN'T TALK.
MEN less trained than Doc's aids would have become excited at the discovery of the man's body, and dashed forward. Such action might have destroyed clews left by the murderer. Doc's men came to a stop where they were.
Doc himself did not advance immediately. His keen eyes appraised the scene.
”Notice the door lock,” he suggested.
”Yep,” said Monk. ”It's torn out. The door was forced by somebody.”
”It was forced by the man dead on the floor,” Doc said.