Read Online E.E. 'Doc' Smith SF Gateway Omnibus: The Skylark of Space, Skylark Three, Skylark of Valeron, Skylark DuQuesne by E. E. (Doc) Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: E. E. (Doc) Smith
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lightly out of the ’copter and scanned the three bodies. The two guards were dead, but Shiro, to his chagrin, showed faint signs of life. But very faint – he wouldn’t live long.
He put on gloves, went into the house, blew the safe and rifled it. He found the vial of solution, but could find neither the larger bottle nor any reference to it. He then searched the house, from attic to basement. He found the vault, carefully concealed though its steel door was; but even he could do nothing about that. Nor was there any need, he decided, as he stood staring at it, the only change in his expression being a slight narrowing of the eyes in concentrated thought. The bulk of that solution was probably in the heaviest, deepest, safest vault in the country.
He returned to the helicopter. In a short time he was back in his own room, poring over blueprints and notebooks.
Coming in in the dusk, Crane and Seaton both began to worry when they saw that their landing lights were not burning. They made a bumpy landing and hurried toward the house. They heard a faint moan and turned, Seaton whipping out his flashlight with one hand his automatic with the other. He hastily replaced the weapon and bent over Shiro, a touch having assured him that the other two were beyond help. They picked Shiro up and carried him into his own room. While Seaton applied first-aid treatment to the ghastly wound in Shiro’s head, Crane called a surgeon, the coroner, the police, and finally Prescott, with whom he held a long conversation.
Having done all they could for the injured man, they stood by his bedside, their anger all the more deadly for beingsilent. Seaton stood with every muscle tense. His right hand, white-knuckled, gripped the butt of his pistol, while under his left the heavy brass rail of the bed began slowly to bend. Crane stood impassive, but his face white and every feature hard as marble. Seaton was the first to speak.
‘Mart,’ he gritted, husky with fury, ‘a man who could leave another man dying like that ain’t a man at all – he’s a thing. I’ll shoot him with the biggest charge we’ve got … No, I won’t, either, I’ll take him apart with my bare hands.’
‘We’ll find him, Dick.’ Crane’s voice was low, level, deadly. ‘That is one thing money can do.’
The tension was relieved by the arrival of the surgeon and nurses, who set to work with the deftness and precision of their highly-specialized crafts. After a time the doctor turned to Crane.
‘Merely a scalp wound, Mr Crane. He should be up in a few days.’
The police, Prescott, and the coroner arrived in that order. There was a great deal of bustling, stirring about, and investigating, some of which was profitable. There were many guesses and a few sound deductions.
And Crane offered a reward of one million tax-paid dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.
IX
Prescott, after a sleepless night, joined Crane and Seaton at breakfast.
‘What do you make of it?’ Crane asked.
‘Very little, at present. Whoever did it had exactly detailed knowledge of your movements.’
‘Check. And you know what that means. The third guard, the one that escaped.’
‘Yes.’ The great detective’s face grew grim. ‘The trouble will be proving it on him.’
‘Second, he was your size and build, Seaton; close enough to fool Shiro, and that would have to be ungodly close.’
‘DuQuesne. For all the tea in China, it was DuQuesne.’
‘Third, he was an expert safecracker, and that alone lets DuQuesne out. That’s just as much of a specialty as yours is, and he did a beautiful job on that safe – really beautiful.’
‘I
still
won’t buy it,’ Seaton insisted. ‘Don’t forget that DuQuesne’s a living encyclopedia and as much smarter than any yegg as I am than that tomcat over there. He could study safe-blowing fifteen minutes and be topman in the field; and he’s got guts enough to supply a regiment.’
‘Fourth,
He put on gloves, went into the house, blew the safe and rifled it. He found the vial of solution, but could find neither the larger bottle nor any reference to it. He then searched the house, from attic to basement. He found the vault, carefully concealed though its steel door was; but even he could do nothing about that. Nor was there any need, he decided, as he stood staring at it, the only change in his expression being a slight narrowing of the eyes in concentrated thought. The bulk of that solution was probably in the heaviest, deepest, safest vault in the country.
He returned to the helicopter. In a short time he was back in his own room, poring over blueprints and notebooks.
Coming in in the dusk, Crane and Seaton both began to worry when they saw that their landing lights were not burning. They made a bumpy landing and hurried toward the house. They heard a faint moan and turned, Seaton whipping out his flashlight with one hand his automatic with the other. He hastily replaced the weapon and bent over Shiro, a touch having assured him that the other two were beyond help. They picked Shiro up and carried him into his own room. While Seaton applied first-aid treatment to the ghastly wound in Shiro’s head, Crane called a surgeon, the coroner, the police, and finally Prescott, with whom he held a long conversation.
Having done all they could for the injured man, they stood by his bedside, their anger all the more deadly for beingsilent. Seaton stood with every muscle tense. His right hand, white-knuckled, gripped the butt of his pistol, while under his left the heavy brass rail of the bed began slowly to bend. Crane stood impassive, but his face white and every feature hard as marble. Seaton was the first to speak.
‘Mart,’ he gritted, husky with fury, ‘a man who could leave another man dying like that ain’t a man at all – he’s a thing. I’ll shoot him with the biggest charge we’ve got … No, I won’t, either, I’ll take him apart with my bare hands.’
‘We’ll find him, Dick.’ Crane’s voice was low, level, deadly. ‘That is one thing money can do.’
The tension was relieved by the arrival of the surgeon and nurses, who set to work with the deftness and precision of their highly-specialized crafts. After a time the doctor turned to Crane.
‘Merely a scalp wound, Mr Crane. He should be up in a few days.’
The police, Prescott, and the coroner arrived in that order. There was a great deal of bustling, stirring about, and investigating, some of which was profitable. There were many guesses and a few sound deductions.
And Crane offered a reward of one million tax-paid dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.
IX
Prescott, after a sleepless night, joined Crane and Seaton at breakfast.
‘What do you make of it?’ Crane asked.
‘Very little, at present. Whoever did it had exactly detailed knowledge of your movements.’
‘Check. And you know what that means. The third guard, the one that escaped.’
‘Yes.’ The great detective’s face grew grim. ‘The trouble will be proving it on him.’
‘Second, he was your size and build, Seaton; close enough to fool Shiro, and that would have to be ungodly close.’
‘DuQuesne. For all the tea in China, it was DuQuesne.’
‘Third, he was an expert safecracker, and that alone lets DuQuesne out. That’s just as much of a specialty as yours is, and he did a beautiful job on that safe – really beautiful.’
‘I
still
won’t buy it,’ Seaton insisted. ‘Don’t forget that DuQuesne’s a living encyclopedia and as much smarter than any yegg as I am than that tomcat over there. He could study safe-blowing fifteen minutes and be topman in the field; and he’s got guts enough to supply a regiment.’
‘Fourth,
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