A Rocket for The Toff by John Creasey

Author:John Creasey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Rocket

Rollison put down his coffee cup, leaned his head on one side, and answered Wedlake mildly: “No. I’m not going to break your neck for that silly talk, either. How difficult would it be to manufacture a Rocket?”

“Without our technical knowledge, practically impossible on an economic basis. It’s a question of mass production, of course. That’s how we’re planning to launch it.” Wedlake rubbed his red neck vigorously. “You know so much about it that I suppose there isn’t any point in keeping anything back. We planned to put ten thousand on the market almost overnight. We’ve special storage facilities, huge warehouses all over the country and the United States. Holmes has been arranging for assembly in Canada, as a matter of fact. The car looks like an ordinary 10-horse power model, and there are skilfully spread rumours about a new one on the way. The special control equipment can be fitted in afterwards – in fact that’s been our biggest headache, making a model which could be adapted, as it were. The car can be operated by remote control, for getting it out of garages, parking, and awkward spots, but its chief quality is that it’s almost accident proof. It is operated by rays which enable it to take evasive action, so that collisions are very rare. It’s the answer to car damage, road accidents, the lot, and once it’s in mass production it will sweep the market. The Malling Evasion System will be needed for every other make of car, too. We’ve done a magnificent job, Rollison. Until this trouble arose in the States, we were practically set to go. I don’t mind telling you that it’s worth a fortune for Malling Motors, and will give a hell of a lift to the nation’s export trade. If the idea is stolen, it can be disastrous. Why, we’ve spent half a million pounds in research!”

“Wedlake,” Rollison began, and then described exactly what had happened in Gresham Terrace the previous night. He saw the other’s face pale beneath the criss-cross of purple veins, and could tell that Wedlake was deeply worried. He began to walk about the office again, as Rollison went on: “The police know about it, and before long the fact that there wasn’t a driver will be in the newspapers. There are two ways of dealing with that – pretending that a driver was seen to leap out before the crash, or letting the newspapers get the remote control story. Once it leaked out, it would make the evasion system seem pretty weak, wouldn’t it? This car did crash.”

“That would be ruinous!” Wedlake exclaimed.

“You’ll have to convince the police of that before they keep it from the Press,” said Rollison drily.

“We can convince the police all right,” said Wedlake. “You’re our problem – you and the people who have kidnapped Holmes. Kidnapped Holmes,” he repeated, as if that were the only way to make himself believe that it had really happened. “When we tell the Ministry

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