"Robeson, Kenneth - Doc Savage 1938 01 - Living Fire Menace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Department of Justice. I once knew him well, was in the army with him. HeТs
tripped across something big."
Swiftly Johnny repeated the message the man known as Z-2 had given him.
"I wish Doc were here," Long Tom muttered.
But Doc Savage was not near by. He was not even in the city, but was miles away,
possibly thousands of miles away.
The telephone rang sharply. Johnny grabbed for it.
"I have your party back for you," the operator said sweetly.
"Z-2?" Johnny demanded breathlessly. "What happened? What was that noiseЧ"
"Naw," came a half-frightened, choking voice. "T-this ainТt that guy who called
himself Z-2. H-he ainТt here no more. H-heТs dead. T-this is Paul Smith, the
filling-station attendant."

PAUL SMITHТS pimply face was still white. HeТd witnessed something he knew heТd
remember until he diedЧsomething that had horrified, yet fascinated him.
"This guy, see," he explained, as Johnny demanded details swiftly. "This guy he
came in here all funny dressed. Hot as it is, he even had gloves on and had
inner tire tubing wrapped around his feet for shoes."
"Go on," Johnny ordered crisply.
"His face was a funny red color, and his hand, too, when he took one glove off.
I didnТt think of it at the time, but I know now he was awful scared."
"IТll take that for granted. What happened?" Johnny interrupted impatiently.
"W-why, this guy, he called for Doc Savage," Paul Smith explained. "Somebody
answered. He started to talk."
"Yes. Yes."
"He was awfully hot. He was wiping sweat off his face as he talked. And he
really was shouting. He seemed awful worked up."
"I know." JohnnyТs voice became very resigned. "But tell me in words of one
syllable, what happened?"
Paul Smith wet dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
"HeЧhe blew up!" he shouted. "H-he just became a sheet of fire!"
There was silence for a moment.
"How did it happen?" Johnny asked softly.
"IЧI donТt know." Paul Smith was frankly sobbing now. "ItЧit was just as if a
sheet of lightning hit him, or something. HeЧhe just became one big flash of
fire, like I said. HeЧhe shriveled and burned, and the odor of his flesh,
itЧahЧ"
"And there was nothing near him, no one close but you?"
"N-no one," Paul Smith whimpered. "ItЧit just happened. IЧI couldnТtТaТ done it.
No one could. I-it seemed as if the flame came from within, not from outside him
anywhere. No one but I was near him, anyway."
Paul Smith thought he told the truth. He never had seen the beautiful face of
the girl that had been near the half-opened window.
Long Tom was an electrical genius. He shook his head when Johnny suggested there
might have been something about the telephone that caused a short circuit or
electrical discharge that could have killed Z-2.
"Impossible," he said flatly. "That could not have happened under any
circumstances."
"But something did," Johnny reflected softly.
"What could a government man have been doing in a small desert town like