"You take care of all such intruders, Luke. That's your job," he told
me.
Ann followed me outside, to ask further questions. "He had some
visitors a few days ago, but I don't know who they were," she said.
"What do you think of this secret of the painting?" I asked.
"I think it's real," she answered, turning back toward the lab.
Wistfully, I watched her go. Someday, maybe, I would be lucky enough
to find a woman as loyal to me as Ann was to Tom. When this happened, I
would notice that she existed! In the meantime, my job was to check the
spacious grounds.
_Wham!_
The length of garden hose with the lead in the end of it came at
me from behind a wide hedge I was passing. I saw both it and the
arm holding it, but I didn't see either soon enough. It came down
across my skull with enough force to have addled an elephant. I saw
constellations of stars as I went down.
I recovered consciousness with the thought in mind that dozens of
smallsized devils were jabbing me with red-hot needles. Trying to move,
I discovered the source of the devils. I had been tossed into the
middle of the wide hedge and the thorns were sticking me. My hands were
tied behind my back and my feet were pulled up behind me and tied to my
hands. Also, the sun was rising. I could see the glow of dawn in the
sky. I had been unconscious all night!
"If I ever catch that Long Jaw!" I thought.
Then I realized that the light I was seeing wasn't coming from the
rising sun. The main building of the lab was on fire! Tom and Ann might
be in there!
The cords that bound my hands snapped like so many threads as I hunched
my shoulders. Putting my hands in front of my eyes, I rolled out of the
hedge. Thorns tore at my flesh. I didn't care. I hit the ground with a
jolt that rattled every bone in my body, then tore the cords from my
feet.
* * * * *
Smoke was pouring upward into the night sky. Off in the distance a
siren was screaming. The police or the fire department, I couldn't
tell which. Heat seared my face and I ran toward the lab. Looking
inside, I saw a figure moving against the flames. Ann! As I stared, she
went down. Pulling my coat over my face, I dived into the lab. Flames
crackled in my ears. I sensed rather than felt my clothes begin to
smoke. Ann stumbled to her feet and went down again. Reaching her side,
I saw that she had been trying to drag Tom out of the building. The
task had been beyond her strength.
One under each arm, I carried them out of the inferno. Most of Ann's
clothes were gone, burned off. Her flesh, raw and red, was exposed.
"They--they burst in. When Tom tried to stop them, they slugged him.
They also hit me."
"They left both of you there after setting the lab on fire?"
"Yes. I think they hoped the fire would cover up their theft."
"And that it would also cover up you and Tom." In my mind's eyes, I was
thinking what I would do to Long Jaw if I ever caught him again. "What
did they take?"
"The painting."
I didn't have time to wonder what there was about the painting that was
valuable enough to justify murder and theft. Fire engines with bells
clanging were screeching to a halt in the drive. Men in rubber coats
began yanking hose from the truck. They worked as if they knew exactly
what to do and how to do it. They also wanted to talk to me, but I
didn't have time to tell them anything except that it was their fire
from here on. Putting Tom and Ann into my car, I mashed the accelerator
to the floorboard.
The doctor in the emergency receiving room of the hospital didn't waste
any time on diagnosis. He took one look at the man I was carrying and
a second look at the woman leaning on my arm, and went to work. He had
Tom and Ann in separate rooms, with plasma and oxygen flowing into
them, within minutes, and before I knew what was happening a nurse
had thrown me out. I paced up and down the corridor for the two hours
before I was able to get hold of Dr. Crane again.
"The woman has third degree burns," he told me when I cornered
him. "The man has only first degree. However, he has a slight brain
concussion."
"Will they be all right?"
Down inside, he was a good joe. He didn't want to give me the news, so
he put on his professional smile. Both of us knew he was lying. "We
will do everything we can. The man will probably recover. As to the
woman--"
"You've got to fix her up too, Doc," I begged him. "He doesn't know it,
but he'll die without her."
I left the hospital with the memory of his professional smile lingering
in my mind. It was a sad smile. It said that in the face of some
conditions, even the doctors were helpless.
Reaching the lab, I found that the fire had been extinguished. A deputy
sheriff was on guard, to protect the property, and--Herker was there.
"You're hired as a guard for this laboratory." Herker told me. "You're
supposed to be on duty at all times, instead of out on all-night
drunks. A lot of money went up in smoke because of your negligence.
What do you have to say?"
I never wanted to clobber a man as much in my life, but I held my
temper in check. I told him what had happened, and explained that the
painting was gone.
"You utter fool! Don't you know the company paid a hundred thousand
dollars for that daub?"
"I don't care what it cost," I answered. "There's more at stake now
than a damned painting, namely Ann's and Tom's life." I walked away
from him then. If I had stayed any longer, I would have hit him.
Reports had to be made to the sheriff's office and to the insurance
people. Since the lab was outside the city limits, we had a bona-fide
sheriff. He was willing and honest and he promised to do everything he
could to locate the thieves but both of us knew that this was locking
the stable after the horse had been stolen. When I finished with the
insurance people and reached my room, the phone was ringing. "To hell
with it." I thought. Fatigue was on me in layers. The phone kept right
on ringing. Prepared to blister the guy on the other end, I jerked it
off the cradle. Tom's voice came over the wire.
"Come and get me," he said.
"What?" I gasped. "You won't be released from the hospital for days!"
"Come and get me," he answered. And hung up.
* * * * *
There was a flurry of nurses in Tom's room when I arrived. In addition,
there were two big orderlies of the type and size who are used when
patients become obstinate. As soon as I entered the room, the orderlies
measured me for size. I repaid the compliment and thought what a good
time we were going to have. Tom, wearing a hospital nightgown and a
dressing robe, his face almost covered with bandages, was on his feet.
Dr. Crane, looking very serious, was present.
"Here's the man to drive me home," Tom said. "Bring me my bill."
Dr. Crane cupped his chin in his hands. "You ask me to accept a serious
responsibility in discharging you when you are not ready."
"I agree with you," Tom said. "That's why I'm going home."
"Do you intend to resume your work?"
"I don't have any choice," Tom answered.
Dr. Crane's mouth became a knife line. Tom crooked his finger at me. I
moved to his side. The two orderlies looked at me. I looked right back
at them. Dr. Crane studied the situation. On the one hand, he didn't
want a patient to leave before treatment was finished. On the other
hand, by this time he had probably learned who Tom was. And on the
third hand--well, he could see that my shoulders were broad and that I
was willing. Finally, he nodded his agreement. "With the proviso that
you will report back for treatment in case it becomes necessary."
Tom nodded as if he did not know he was lying. With the two orderlies
looking very relieved, we left the hospital. "What about Ann?" I asked
outside.