Farradyne smiled and left them. He went aloft and returned the
Lancaster to the lake. "Now," he said, "we'll wait it out."
Morgan shook his head. "With the net they've set up you'll never see
your girl or your truck or your hellflowers again."
"Maybe I want it that way."
"Oh? Putting the finger on the bird you carted out of here?"
"Precisely."
"And how about the dame?"
Farradyne laughed. "In this cockeyed society of ours," he said, "even a
streetwalker can rip her dress open, point at a man, and holler 'help!'
and half of the community will start yelling 'Lynch the sonofabitch'
without looking too hard at either of them. She'll get by, but it may
go hard with him."
Morgan and Roberts were scornful, angry, and ready at any instant to
do whatever they could to overcome him. Only the tape kept them from
trying. But on Carolyn's face was an expression of mingled defeat and
admiration. She knew as well as Farradyne that Brenner was in for a
rough time.
Farradyne lit a cigarette and mixed himself a highball. Carolyn groaned
and tried to flex the wrists that were secured to the arms of the
chair. Morgan growled at the sight of her helplessness and asked if
Farradyne had harmed her.
Her face took on a cynical smile. "I happen to be immune to love
lotus," she said.
"Scorpions," said Farradyne, "are immune to their own poison."
* * * * *
Once again the radio music faded: "And here is the latest news on
Charles Farradyne: within the past half hour the area of search has
been narrowed down to a tiny ten-mile circle, by the interception of
a moving van laden with love lotus. The arrest was made by a state
highway patrol with the aid of a woman who gave her name as Norma
Hannon.
"Miss Hannon was in a state of hysterical collapse after days of
imprisonment at the hands of the love-lotus ring, brutal physical
assault, and threats of being forced into love-lotus addiction. The
driver of the truck was carrying a license made out to Walter Morgan,
but information from the Bureau of Identification indicates that Morgan
is also known as Lewis Hughes, a prominent teacher of Ancient History
in a Des Moines school. During the struggle Miss Hannon succeeded in
rendering the criminal unconscious by hitting him on the jaw with her
slipper, after which she taped--"