23

for damage. He said, “A hundred dollars—I said: “The old gaffer didn’t seem to they wanted to meet you badly, Savage. No-have heard of the black it-can’t-be that was body ever pays a hundred bucks to meet me.

crawling around in the street and did in Fools if they did. You know, that business Gross.”

really livened up the banquet, didn’t it? Good “That reminds me,” Doc Savage said, thing. We had a lousy program. You should and he telephoned the police medical exam-have heard Baedeker’s speech. It put half of iner, asking if the exact cause of the death of them to sleep—those who didn’t know Albert Gross had been ascertained. Evidently enough about what they saw in the sky to-it had, because he listened intently to the night to have their hair scared up on end.”

news.

Doc Savage said: “Doctor, do you think

“Well, what did Gross die of?” I de-what we saw was a chromospheric eruption manded.

of terrestrial origin?”

“Of little holes in him,” Savage said “Sure. So do you.” Doctor Hodges had briefly.

chin whiskers of the nanny goat variety, and This hardly came under the heading of he gave them a worried yank. “Drat it, man, fresh news. I gathered that he thought I who could have developed a means of creat-couldn’t do much with the details if I had ing molecular collision with free electrons in them. It could be.

one of the perturbing strata? I thought I knew all the atmospheric physicists doing work along that line. But I know of no one who is DOC SAVAGE made telephone calls.

near achieving the sort of success we saw He got hold of Samuel Wickert Wales, the demonstrated over that hotel tonight.”

astrophysicist of the Compton Observatory, “It’s a puzzle,” Doc Savage admitted.

the guy whose phone call I’d accidentally “Dammit, doesn’t it scare you?”

received that morning—and how I was wish-

“Somewhat.”

ing I hadn’t!—and learned that Wales had Doctor Hodges did some shuddering made a deal to coach Miss Fenisong on the and whisker-yanking, and pondered, “How do lunar theory. The deal had been made by you suppose it was achieved? To drive elec-telephone; Wales had never met Miss Feni-trons against molecules and obtain optical song. In other words, he had nothing to con-wave emission, in the visible spectrum—for tribute. Savage thanked him as gently as a at least part of it was in the visible spectrum, chorine stroking her new mink coat.

since we could see a round luminous patch “If it was me,” I said, “I’d throw a little in the sky—they either had a terrific transmit-scare around.”

ter for microwave-lengths, or they had stum-

“If it was you,” he replied, “you’d bled on a short-cut. God, I wish I’d had an probably get hit on the head again.”

electronic multiplier there while it was going “Touché,” I said. “Only there’s been on, with enough other apparatus to get a murder done.”

test.”

“Probably worse,” he said, and went The next five minutes of discussion into the laboratory, leaving me to discover was over my head. Probably I recognized that I had a first-rate case of the creeping two words. My minus and plus electricity jeebies. I didn’t know exactly what there was didn’t get me far.

to be afraid of—I wasn’t that scientific—but I The eminent doctor could have talked knew alarm in other people when I saw it.

about it all night, but Savage threw him out in Savage was alarmed. Doctor Hodges had a polite way, promising to let him have a been alarmed. The only emotion that would peep at the gimmick that had made the light show on a face like Monk Mayfair had was if we found it.

dumbness, but he was probably alarmed too.

“Nice old guy with a lot of big words,” I I wasn’t kidding myself—mostly I was said.

afraid of what I didn’t know. As a kid, I always “And big deeds,” Doc Savage said ran like blazes past graveyards at night, for sharply. “Doctor Hodges is the man who—”

the reason that I didn’t know what might He didn’t finish that. But whatever Doc-come out of a graveyard. Only a few months tor Hodges had contributed to science, I ago, I was one of those who figured those gathered it was plenty.

tinkering scientists would probably blow the world to dust with their atom bomb tests. Ig-24

DOC SAVAGE

norance isn’t bliss sometimes—it can be He didn’t get them petting horses ridden by stark terror.

New York cops, because the mounted police Anyway, I was in such a tizzy that I don’t use grey horses. That meant country, was forgetting lovely-voice and how swell an estate, a greenhouse. Get it?”

she looked and how nice a dish she would “Is this a rib?”

make across the breakfast table of mornings.

He shrugged. “There was a flake or so That, for me, was quite a tizzy.

of white brick paint—a new type the Nazis developed during the war, and never on sale in America until the last year. It doesn’t work Chapter V

on old brick that has been painted, only on new brick. Hence a new white house—and IT was a surprise for a rough crummy-probably quite new, because he’s been fool-looking package done up in burlap and tough ing around the outside of it to get the paint cord to contain a fistful of polished dia-traces on him. There were plenty of green monds—but that was what Monk Mayfair velvet hairs from upholstery fabric. . . . So, turned out to be. He finished with his micro-we get an estate in the country—where but in scope and some mixtures of stinking chemi-the country do you find estates?—with a cals which he had been using on Albert greenhouse, near the north shore of Long Gross’ coat fragment.

Island. The last is a guess—the North Shore Monk said: “Well, here’s the story on is where you find most of the estates near a Gross.”

seashore around New York City. And the “Let’s have it,” Savage told him.

house is white brick. Now do you catch on?

“You want me to interpret?”

See how simple.”

“Sure.”

“It sounds like moon-jumping to me,” I

“Albert Gross,” Monk said, “lived on the said.

north shore of Long Island, in a large house Doc Savage said, “Gross probably that is part of an estate having a greenhouse owns the estate.”

and stables. The house is new, been built “Huh?”

within the last year, and the outside is white-

“Expensive suit. Three hundred dollars, painted brick, which should make it easier to probably. A man with that money for his find. The room in the house that Gross liked clothes could own an estate.”

best is furnished in green velvet and the fur-

“You too!” I said. “You mean to tell me niture is overstuffed. . . . Take a look and see you look at a piece off a guy’s coat and tell how far you think I missed it. Here’s my where he went to school?”

notes.”

“He went to school in Vienna, Austria,”

I said: “Nice guessing.”

Doc Savage said.

“What guessing?” Monk asked.

“Yeah?” I said. “Now I know it’s a rib.”

“That stuff you just spouted.”

“Don’t be a dope.”

“I’m not,” I said. “That’s why I don’t PRESENTLY the telephone rang, and swallow that line of Sherlock Holmes guff you it was the police. They said they’d found the just put out.”

proprietor of the cleaning shop on Lexington “No?”

Avenue, and were rushing him down to look “No,” I said.

at his records and see if Albert Gross had left Monk gave me that baboon grin.

an address when he left his suits to be “There were traces of salt on the coat fabric, cleaned.

and that—and the distribution of the traces—“Ain’t Lexington Avenue right here in meant exposure to sea breezes. Ergo, he downtown New York?” I asked. “Down the had been around the sea or seashore. I spout goes your wild-and-woolies about didn’t find any salt-water spots, so it was Gross having a Long Island estate.”

probably the seashore. There was pollen They didn’t seem discouraged. It ap-from nine different flowers, including orchids peared they were going to look on the north of three varieties, on the cloth, or in it. That shore of Long Island for the place.

meant either a flower shop or greenhouse.

“You’ve laid out a month’s job there,” I There were several horse hairs on the lapels, said.

from at least two different horses, both greys.

NO LIGHT TO DIE BY