UP FROM EARTH'S CENTER by J.R.A

Author:J.R.A. [J.R.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-04-26T23:22:24+00:00

VI

MONK Mayfair doubled a hand into a great fist, smashed it down on a knee, and exploded, "Of all the cock-and-bull stories, this one is the winner! It lays me out flat!"

Doc Savage assumed a look of disapproval.

Ham Brooks said, "It's a dilly, all right."

"It's a honey," Monk added.

"Don't you believe in hell?" Ham asked Monk. "Don't you feel there might be a Tophet and a devil?"

"A little spot down below, with brimstone heating, and a host with a spike tail and horns?" Monk sneered at him. "What are you trying to start?"

"I should think," Ham told him dryly, "that you would have given a little more thought to your future residence."

Doc Savage gestured impatiently. "Don't start one of your rows now. We have a job cut out for us here, if we can only get our teeth into it. I'd like to see you fellows concentrate on that, instead of a private fuss."

The pair looked at Doc in surprise. "You don't put stock in this hell stuff, do you, Doc?"

Doc jumped to his feet. "Let's deal with proven facts, the ones in front of our nose. First, this one: Miss Sullivan knows where her brother is.

Monk and Ham stared at him with open mouths and round eyes.

Doc added, "Gilmore isn't far away, either, I have a hunch."

"How do you know?" Monk demanded, swallowing his surprise.

"Miss Sullivan is a perfectly normal young woman who would show a normal anxiety about the welfare of a brother who had vanished several weeks ago, and who had been found starving and freezing on an island. Isn't that right?"

Monk nodded. "Yeah, she's normal enough, except about six times prettier than that. But I don't see - "

"The tip-off," Doc told him, "was that she wasn't the least bit anxious about Gilmore. She didn't ask how he was, not convincingly, and she didn't show genuine surprise when told he had disappeared again."

"Gosh!" Monk said.

"Exactly The logical explanation for her unconcern is that she already knew about it, knew where Gilmore was, and that he was O.K."

Ham Brooks frowned. "She's a mighty good-looking liar, and that's just what she is."

"What do we do about this?" Monk wanted to know.

"You," Doc said, "don't do anything about it. Except this: Monk, you shadow Mr. Wail. Latch onto him. Don't let him make a move without your surveillance."

"Do I let him know I'm watching him?" Monk demanded.

"I don't care what Wail knows," Doc exclaimed. "His feelings about it do not enter the picture. I want him watched. Watch Wail every minute. Keep your eyes on him. Got it?"

"Right," Monk said. "I'll clamp an eye on him right now." He wheeled for the door.

"Wait! If anything odd begins happening, make plenty of uproar about it. Don't just stand there and let it happen."

Monk's expression became queer. "O.K."

"And, Monk, don't take too lightly Miss Sullivan's statement that Wail isn't what he seems.

Monk started, then swallowed. "Oh, for cripes sake!" he said. "When you're kidding me, why don't you use the tone of voice that goes with it!"

"Because I might not be kidding," Doc replied grimly.

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