"Doc Savage Adventure 1945-03 The Ten Ton Snakes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doc Savage Collection)

"Search me. If you're a genuine Sir, don't you have to sit in the House of Lords or in Parliament or something?"

"Search me," Renny said. "I wouldn't know."

"Anyway, Powell didn't admit knowing anything about any heavy stuff. He knew my brother. That was all he would admit."

"You think, then, that he lied to you?" Renny asked.

"Everything he said might not be lies. But he sure lied about the heavy stuff, whatever it is."

"How do you know?"

"I can tell when a man lies to me."

"Always?"

"I could tell this time," Bob French said. "He was lying, all right. There was another guy in the room with him. I didn't like the fellow's looks either. Well, I talked to this Powell fellow, asking him about the heavy stuff, and I didn't get a thing out of him. He just said he knew nothing about any such thing, and that he was very sorry. But I got the feeling he wasn't sorry, and that he knew plenty about the heavy stuff, whatever it is, and that the only thing he was sorry about was seeing me. My showing up that way worried him, all right. Well, I left."

The soldier scowled at the floor for a moment.

"I cabled my brother the results of the interview," he said. "I asked him what he wanted me to do."

"Have you had an answer?"

"Not yet."

Renny said, "You said you were scared. I don't see any reason for your being scared."

"Wait a minute, I haven't told you what happened just before I came up here."

Renny waited patiently. He was interested in the story. He was excited about it, too, and his eyes were bright and intent.

"They tried to kill me on the street," the soldier said. "First, a man tried to knife me. I knocked him down. I was pretty rough. Some other men piled in to help. Too many for me, I figured. So I cut and ran, and here I am."

"How," Renny asked, "did you connect this attack with Sir Roger Powell, the man your brother cabled you to interview about the heavy stuff?"

"This guy with the knife was with Powell when we had our talk."

Renny raised his eyebrows over this piece of information. "That would be a connection, all right. But I don't exactly see what you want me to do."

"Look, you're the only man in New York I know," Bob French said. "I've got some funny trouble on my hands, as you can see. I'm scared. I've had practice in being scared, because I've killed Japs and had Japs trying to kill me, and I've been scared for a week at a time. And I can still get scared, like when those guys tried to kill me. Right on the street like that, they tried to kill me. I tell you, I never heard of such a damned thing."

"So that's why you came to me?" Renny said.

"That's right," the soldier said. "I got to know you in China, and I figured you would be the man to help me or advise me." The soldier hesitated, then added sheepishly, "Don't get me wrong. I don't expect you to drop your business and grab a gun and rush out to fight my battles for me. Just kick in with some advice, that's what I want. When a man is scared, it helps to have someone around who understands."

"You didn't," Renny said, "come to me because you knew I was associated with Doc Savage?"

"Eh? You're what with who?"