Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 267 by Maxwel l Grant

Author:Maxwel,l Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

CHAPTER XII. THE WRONG CHOICE

STANDING inside the door, Professor Durand kept watching his new assistant. The fact worried Fred, particularly Durand's silence. Fred wished that the professor would hum one of his crazy tunes; it would, at least, relieve the tension.

For Fred feared that there was suspicion behind Durand's unchanging gaze.

After all, Fred had come to the workshop ostensibly to try out some of the plans mentioned at dinner.

Those plans followed the all-important pattern - that of rearranging the internal workings of Thronzo so that the robot's various units would all fit into the body. But at present Fred was still measuring the exterior, which indicated that he hadn't progressed far with his task.

It might be that Durand's shrewd brain was thinking of other things that his new assistant might have been doing in the past half-hour. Groping for an idea that would help his status, Fred turned from the robot, and declared:

"I have it, professor. What Thronzo needs is a square body. The present cubic capacity is sufficient, but it isn't the right shape. You're trying to put square pegs in a round hole."

Having thus given a reason for all the time spent in mere measurement, Fred watched for Durand's reaction.

To his surprise, there was none. There wasn't any fade of suspicion from Durand's face, because he hadn't any suspicion in the first place.

All this while, Durand had been looking at Fred with an expression of complete satisfaction, as though his new assistant's interest in the robot was itself a sufficient guarantee of Fred's loyalty and honesty.

"A square body wouldn't do," spoke Durand reflectively. "It would be all right, Corbin, except for the feature of bullet reflection, which you seem to have overlooked."

Fred nodded. Taking off his coat, he tossed it on a chair and started to open the robot's body. Before Fred could proceed with other work, Durand stopped him and drew him out through the workshop door.

"I like your zeal, Corbin," declared Durand as they walked toward the main part of the house. "But first, let me get to the crux of things. Zarratt tells me I need money. Otherwise, I can't compete with Moyne.

Though Moyne no longer has a factory, he can raise all the funds he needs. Assuming that he does produce a robot the equivalent of mine, the question of quantity output will become the deciding factor.

Do you understand?"

Fred nodded. "If you need a backer, why doesn't Zarratt find one? Why doesn't he talk to men like Cranston? They have money, but they aren't profit-mad like Moyne."

"We have already found the man we need," returned Durand. "His name is Clinton Grenshaw. He is a retired manufacturer who lives near New Rochelle. We should have closed the deal long ago. The trouble is that Grenshaw asks too many questions."

"Too many questions?"

"Yes - of a mechanical nature. Questions that Zarratt is unable to answer. So, this evening, I intended to go along and answer them. Unfortunately, while Zarratt and I were in conference, I received a phone call from the police commissioner saying that he was coming here to discuss the Talman case.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.