"028 (B088) - The Roar Devil (1935-06) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Dove Zachies came up, glaring. He had evidently familiarized himself with Doc Savage's organization, probably from such newspaper pictures as had been printed.
"Monk and Ham, they call you," he snarled. Then he waved an arm. "Get that woman!"
Men raced off.
Ten minutes later, they were all back.
"She got away," one imparted. "Had a car waiting down the road."
"Ahr-r-r!" muttered Dove Zachies
"Who was she, Dove?" a man queried.
"Retta Kenn," said Dove Zachies.
MONK and Ham were taken into the house. The guard they had overpowered, bound and gagged was found and released. Every one sat around listening anxiously for some evidence that the shooting had moved a neighbor to call the police. Nothing happened.
"I bought this place because it was isolated," Dove Zachies sighed. Then he came over to Monk and Ham, both of whom were now secured with bright new handcuffs.
"So Doc Savage didn't swallow my line as well as I thought?" Zachies growled. "Just how much does Savage know?"
"I can't hear you," Monk squeaked. "I'm kinda deaf at times."
That threw Dove Zachies into a spasm of rage, the violence of which puzzled Monk, who had no way of knowing as yet that Zachies had been taken in the previous day when Retta Kenn put over a very good pretense of being deaf.
Zachies put out his rather weak-looking jaw.
"Know what I'm gonna do with you two bright boys?" he gritted.
"I ain't a mind reader, either," Monk advised.
"I'm gonna use you to persuade Doc Savage to really go to town on this Roar Devil," Zachies advised.
Monk squinted small eyes at him. "Yeah? How?"
"I'm gonna call up Doc Savage and yell over the telephone that the Roar Devil is attackin' my estate here."
"Then what?" Monk asked curiously.
"Then I'm gonna shoot you two," Zachies advised. "I'll tell Doc Savage that the Roar Devil did it. What do you think of that? It'll make Doc Savage real anxious to get the Roar Devil, won't it? It'll stir him up, won't it?"
"It'll stir him up," Monk admitted.
Dove Zachies walked over and picked up the telephone.

Chapter VIII. THE DEAD MAN'S VOICE

THE telephones in Doc Savage's office were connected to buzzers which had various tones. The one which sounded now was unusually shrill, something resembling the prolonged squeak of a mouse.
An extremely tall and amazingly thin man in Doc Savage's reception room moved toward the instrument. This man's appearance was rather startlingly like that of a skeleton with a very thin coating of skin and flesh. He was Johnny.
"The communication may not be of memorabilian consequence," he said solemnly.
"I will take it," Doc Savage said.
The bronze man swung over and scooped up the telephone, which was one of a bank of several, all numbered.
"I wish to speak with Doc Savage, please," said a voice over the wire.
Doc Savage did not change expression, but into the room, for the briefest of moments, came the low, exotic trilling sound which was his own peculiar characteristic, the sound which he made in moments of mental excitement.
The words over the telephone had come in a peculiar singing manner of delivery. And Dove Zachies had said this was the method used by the Roar Devil to disguise his speech.
"This is Doc Savage," the bronze man admitted.
There followed a pause of such duration that it seemed the voice of the Roar Devil was not going to sound again. Then singsong words came out of the receiver.
"Please do not interrupt what I have to say, and listen carefully," directed the voice. "This is the Roar Devil. I have your man, Renny. He is unharmed, except for minor bruises. Nor will he be harmed if you follow certain instructions."
Doc Savage took the receiver away from his ear enough for the bony Johnny to hear the words. Johnny nodded, backed away and picked up another instrument, where he promptly began trying to trace the call.
"Dove Zachies is the man I really want," continued the Roar Devil.
THERE was a slight pause after that, as if for emphasis.
"Get Zachies, and I will trade your man Renny for him," the Roar Devil went on. "I will know when you have received Zachies. I have sources of information. I will then get in touch with you and arrange for the trade. Now, you will want proof that I have Renny."
There was a short silence. Then Renny's booming voice, angry and unmistakable, came out of the receiver.
"I know about this trade he's trying to make, Doc," said Renny's roar. "Tell him to go to blazes! But watch your step! And don't kid yourself that this Roar Devil isn't dangerous!"
The wire rattled as the connection was broken.
Doc Savage, still holding the receiver, spun on gaunt Johnny.
"Get it?"
Johnny said over the other telephone, "Thank you immensely," and hung up.
"Supermalagorgeous," he told Doc Savage. "Thanks to the previous arrangements we made with the telephone company, we got results."
"The call came from where?"
"From a place in Westchester County."