"Kenneth Robeson - Doc Savage 042 - The Midas Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

The man who had gone out of the room—to get orders from the mysterious "chief," he had said—came back.
He looked very cheerful.

He said, "Doc Savage really don’t know a thing about this business. We made a mistake when we grabbed
this bag of bones."

Johnny swallowed several times. This was the truth. But how had they learned it?

The man looked at Johnny. "We can’t turn you loose, because you would tell Doc Savage what has
happened and he would meddle. So we gotta figure what to do."

There was a silence. It did not look to Johnny as if they were doing much thinking. It looked as if they already
knew what they would do with him, and it would not be pleasant.

A man demanded, "Is the Happy Skeleton business going through okay?"

"The Happy Skeleton business? Sure! No slips there."

"You fools had better quit talkin’ so much," the third man told the rest.

They fell silent.

All of this conversation made not the slightest sense to Johnny.

"What do you fellows want with me?" the gaunt geologist demanded, angrily.

"Nothing now," said one of the men. "We’re through with you, brother!"

"You haven’t done anything with me!" Johnny looked bewildered. "I mean—nothing that made sense."

"It makes plenty of sense, if you only knew!" the other assured him.

"Then turn me loose!" Johnny ordered.

The other seemed to consider this at length.

"As soon as Jethro Mandebran’s son lands in his airplane," the man said, "I think we shall shoot you."



Chapter III. THE MANDEBRAN SCION
ALEXANDER CROMWELL MANDEBRAN was, as was natural under the circumstances, a public figure for
the time being, a celebrity. Alex Mandebran had been interviewed aboard the transatlantic liner and had
named the airport at which he expected to land in the United States. As a result, reporters and cameramen
were on hand to greet Mandebran’s plane.

The airport selected was one on the outskirts of the city of Philadelphia, the metropolis from which the
missing Jethro Mandebran had disappeared.