"038 (B045) - The Man Who Smiled No More (1936-04) - Laurence Donovan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

The door of one of the safes was open. Perrin began moaning. It seemed there had been forty diamonds of great value, among other gems, in this safe. These were uncut stones. Perrin moaned out they had been consigned to him by a customer.
"They'd have cut more'n ten hundred carats!" groaned Perrin. "Ten hundred carats, I'm tellin' you! And I'm ruined! It'll cost me everything I've gotЧmy reputationЧmyЧ"
The lapidary pulled his tormented eyes from the interior of the looted safe. But a detective directed Perrin's gaze to the floor. In front of the safe was a drying pool of blood. It had spread on the rug. There could not have been less than a quart, perhaps more.
"If the guy was alone, he's holed up around here by this time," said the detective. "If there was a pair of 'em, the other one'll be grabbed gettin' away with the fellow that's plugged."
Perrin twisted his gray strand of hair.
"You saw 'em, Henry?" he shot at the night watchman. "What'd they look like?"
"Who did I see, Mr. Perrin?" replied Henry Hawkins. "Do you suppose I could eat my lunch now?"
The watchman's face was expressionless. He showed no visible effect of his encounter with cracksmen. Apparently Henry Hawkins was only hungry and he wanted his lunch.
The night watchman expressed no evidence of having felt fear.
PERRIN was raging with excitement. The arrival of an inspector named Ryan found the lapidary frothing.
Henry Hawkins evinced little interest in his employer's excitement. His pipe had fallen unnoticed to the floor.
"Maybe he got a bump on the bean," suggested Inspector Ryan.
He was facing Henry Hawkins, studying him. Then the inspector thought of something.
"Well, I'll be darned!" he exclaimed. "He looks like that shiner who bumped off his pal up on the el last night! Say, do you remember shooting somebody in here?"
"Maybe I didЧwell, I guess I did," said the watchman. "I didn't get a chance to eat my lunch and I'm hungry. I wasn't in here when the safe was opened. Mr. Perrin knows I wouldn't do it."
Henry Hawkins had not been accused. There was a possibility he might have been, if there had not been the pool of blood on the floor. One of the detectives was digging a soft chunk of lead out of the wall near the window.
"He done some shootin', all right" said the detective "But something knocked him cuckoo."
Perrin had a death grip on his lock of gray hair.
"What'll I doЧwhat'll I do?" he moaned. "Those stones hadn't been insured! I was to make an appraisal, but I hadn't done it!"
Inspector Ryan was a very smart copper.
"We'll do all we can to get them back, Mr. Perrin," he said. "But there's something screwy about all this. I think we'll trot your watchman up to Bellevue for a once-over. There's only one man who might give you some information. I don't know why, but Doc Savage has been digging into that shoe shiner's case. If anybody can find answers, the big bronze guy can do it. I'd talk to him, Mr. Perrin, if I were you."
LESS than an hour later, the lapidary arrived at Doc's address.
Harris Hooper Perrin gave many gasps of surprise. These began with his admission to Doc Savage's headquarters. A door bore small, simple letters. These were in bronze. They read, "Clark Savage, Jr."
Doc admitted him. The first thing the lapidary noticed was the library.
The library contained thousands of volumes. Many of these dealt with precious stones and valuable minerals. Doc Savage knew more about gold craftsmanship than did Harris Hooper Perrin.
The bronze man also knew more about Harris Hooper Perrin himself than the lapidary could have imagined any one discovering.
Perrin stood in the middle of the immense laboratory. He fiddled with his lock of wiry hair.
"I don't see how you can help me much," said Perrin. "But my night watchman seems to have gone crazy. And I think maybe I'll go crazy, too! One of my safes has been cleaned out. A man was shot and my watchman don't even remember doing it. They've got him up at Bellevue, under observation."
Doc's flaky gold eyes flickered with the tiny whirlwinds in their depths. He was thinking. Smiling Tony, the shoe shiner. Simon Stevens, the shipping president. Now a humble watchman by the name of Henry Hawkins?
And Perrin was pouring out his trouble.
"First of all, you might sit down over here," directed Doc. "Are you interested in tropical fish? I have nearly a hundred varieties in this tank."
"For Heaven's sakes!" gasped Perrin. "I'm telling you I've been robbed of ten hundred carats in diamonds that aren't insured! I'm a ruined man! I'll never get any more work!"
"Yes, I understood all of that," said Doc, quietly. "You are working yourself into an extremely nervous state. If you will sit here and look at the fish, I would like to make a telephone call. I may be able to help you."
"I'll pay you anythingЧanything you ask!" moaned Perrin.
Doc Savage merely smiled and said nothing.
OUTSIDE in his other office, Doc made a telephone connection.
"The case is so unusual, coming immediately after the strange affair of the afternoon, I thought you might be interested in seeing this Henry Hawkins, the watchman," said the man of bronze to the party at the other end.
The man he had called from bed replied, "Yes! Yes, indeed! It was thoughtful of you, Mr. Savage! I'll go up to Bellevue and see the man at once! This queer mental condition may be only temporary, but I hope to get at its origin!"
"I'm sure you do," said Doc Savage. "And doctorЧthere is another strange case I believe to be the same as this one, a case in which I am greatly interested. The victim is Simon Stevens, the shipping magnate. He, too, was attacked this afternoon, but has since gone to his Southampton home. I would appreciate if you would attend him, also."
Excitement whipped into the other man's voice. Then he said, "I'll go to Bellevue, and will then leave immediately to drive to Southampton."
Doc Savage returned to the laboratory. The man he had called was Doctor Buelow T. Madren.
Having been left alone, Harris Hooper Perrin had composed his nerves somewhat. Perhaps the brilliant, flashing colors of the tropical fish swimming in the nearly transparent tank had a soothing influence.
Perrin could not know this tank of fish was in itself merely a blind for one of Doc Savage's secret exits.
Chapter IV. ANOTHER FROZEN BRAIN
HARRIS HOOPER PERRIN hopped up when Doc Savage returned to the laboratory.
"You called somebody?" he said. "Maybe the police? What did they say? Have they found out anything?"
"I did not call the police," advised Doc. "I believe more may be found in the brain of your night watchman than elsewhere. We will have to await developments. Have you ever seen a better collection of tropical fish?"
"Good grief, man! I'm ruinedЧruined! You keep on talking about fish! And some of them are poison! I want to know what I can do to get back the jewels that are uninsured?"
"Yes, some of the fish are poison," said Doc. "You can see them, those with the sharp spines, if you look closely."
A sign over the tank read, "POISON FISH."