"064 (B063) - The Submarine Mystery (1938-06) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Prince Albert was not likely to die. He was not likely to answer questions for some time, either.
Doc Savage walked into the reception room. The girl was fooling around with the outer door, trying to get it open.
"The excitement is probably over for the time being," the bronze man said. "So you might as well remain."
China Janes stared at him. She was noticeably impressed. Women usually were.
"You," she said, "are Doc Savage."
"Right."
"Who was that other man?"
"He wasn't Monk," Doc said quietly. "He called himself Prince Albert, and he and a number of other men went to a great deal of trouble to seize myself and Monk and Ham. The other men, incidentally, speak English after the manner of the day of Shakespeare."
China looked startled. "Perchance thou dost mean they speak after this fashionЧthat the kind of lingo they sling?"
"Exactly."
"The Duchess Portia Montanye-Norwich," China said, "talks like that."
"An interesting point."
"But that mugЧthat Prince AlbertЧhe talked the regular way."
"Also interesting," Doc admitted. "By the way, I overheard all you told him. Did you leave out anything?"
"Not a thing. Told him all I knew."
"Portia mentioned people in need of help, you said."
"But that's all she did mention. I guess whoever is in trouble is pretty bad off." China frowned. "What is this crazy thing all about?"
"That," Doc said, "is what interests us. We have not the slightest idea, so far."
China took in a shaky breath. "PortiaЧthe duchessЧsure handed me something, didn't she?"
"She did. Suppose we go ask her about that, and other things?"
"Suits me."
DOC and the girl took the speed elevator to the street. Having come down eighty-six floors at practically free-falling speed, China Janes struggled with her breathing and her composure. The dark sedan which the bronze man drove rolled several blocks before she got organized.
"You say some men seized you?" she said. "When was that?"
"To-day."
"ButЧyou're here now! You escaped?"
"Monk, Ham and myself," Doc explained, "carry small containers of an odorless and colorless gas which causes almost immediate unconsciousness without doing much harm. We used it on our guards and escaped."
"Didn't they search you?"
"They neglected to take the heels off our shoes."
"Oh!"
Doc Savage switched on a short-wave radio "transceiver," and said into the microphone, "Monk!"
"Yeah, Doc?" Monk's squeaky voice responded.
"Questioned any of those men yet?"
"Sure. But so far we've got what the little boy shot at. Boy, they won't talk like Shakespeare or any other way!"
"We will try truth serum."
"That may do it. Where are you now, Doc?"
"Going after the other girl."
"Girl? What girl?"
Tension jumped across the bronze man's features. "Monk! Didn't Prince Albert call you, and didn't you make one of the prisoners answer, and Prince Albert told him where to find the Duchess Portia Montanye-Norwich?"
"Nothing like that happened, Doc."
"Then there must be two gangs in New York!"
"Two gangs of who?"
"These fellows speaking Sixteenth-Century English. Prince Albert evidently called the second gang."
"This is gettin' complicated," Monk complained. "Doc, have you been able to figure this mess out?"
The fact that the bronze man did not answer was not unusual. Those associated with him were accustomed to the habit. His silence usually came when he was unsure, or did not wish to commit himself. When asked his opinion of what a puzzling chain of events meant, he frequently failed to answer.
Doc touched a button, and a siren began whining under the car hood, and red police lights glowed front and rear. Traffic cops blew whistles; motorists angled toward curbs and stopped, and there was room for speed. The speedometer needle started a march for the other side of the dial.
The velocity with which they whipped around street cars made China Janes take several bites at the ends of her fingers. She fell to staring at the floor because it was easier on her nerves.
"You think Portia may be in danger?" she asked.
"Indications point that way."
The car slowed, skidding a little, arched around a corner, then took more speed with an abruptness that dragged them back against the cushions.
China said, "Portia was on that submarine."