"Kenneth Robeson - Doc Savage 160 - Colors For Murder" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

SERGEANT ELLIS confronted Doc Savage in the lunchroom. “Listen, that's the dirtiest trick I ever
pulled on a human being,” he complained.
“How did she take it?” Doc asked.

“Like we had stuck a knife in her.” The Sergeant was displeased about his part in the affair.

“But it probably didn't jolt more truth out of her, did it?”

“Well, no. No, it didn't.”

“Which probably means she's got a very strong reason for holding back facts,” Doc remarked. “We've
got to jolt her out of that frame of mind, and that's what we are doing. So wipe that
I-just-stepped-on-my-little-puppy expression off your face, Sergeant.”

Sergeant Ellis grunted. “I guess she has it coming, at that. Say, how did you guys get the bloodstains off
the sidewalk? Not with water. Water wouldn't have dried so fast. There would have been wet spots.”

“Oh, that. Acetone. There's always a lot of it around airports. They use it to thin aircraft dope. It
evaporates very quickly. She was taken in, was she?”

“She was the most fooled girl you ever saw!”

“Where is she now?”

“Where you said to put her. In that office.”

“Are the windows unlocked?” Doc demanded.

“If they aren't, she can unlock them.” The Sergeant scratched his head. “Is this thing out of my hands
now? I mean, do you want me to do anything more? Or do the police just stand back?”

“You just stand back,” Doc Savage said. “And I want to thank you for the way you've coöperated in this
matter. I've rarely seen better or more efficient work under unusual circumstances.”

Sergeant Ellis coughed apologetically. “Unusual was right! I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Savage, and
the extraordinary methods you use, but this is the first time I got a chance to see them first-hand. They're
unusual all right. However, you don't owe me any thanks, because I received orders to coöperate with
you. I guess you knew that, though.”

“The thanks,” Doc said, “were more for the spirit of your help.”

“Well, like I said, the thing was so unusual—” Sergeant Ellis broke off to stare at Patrolman Calvick,
who dashed toward them.

“She lammed!” said Patrolman Calvick breathlessly. “She clumb outta the window and scrammed!”

Sergeant Ellis turned to Doc Savage.

“The egg,” he said, “is now yours to hatch.”