At that instant the huge room was plunged in darkness. There was a scuffle of feet, two hard, thudding blows—the sound of one or more falling bodies.
A girl’s scream rang out, followed by Cho-San’s bass bellow. Then came silence, more stifling than the thick darkness of the vault.
In contrast to the gruesome quiet of Cho-San’s dark torture room, loud argument resounded in the brightly lighted office of the local Intelligence Bureau. Michael Splendor, just arrived from the airport to take charge of operations, was laying down the law to the chief of the San Francisco operatives.
“It’s all ye’re fault, Hammond!” he roared, pounding the desk with an enormous hairy fist. “Ye should have seen the game was up when Cho-San butted in on the party and spirited Don Winslow away in his big black car! Ye should have had a squad of expert men ready to shadow him, instead of leavin’ it to a young officer who’s not trained to the work. Now, repeat if ye will, the story of that taxi driver who said he’d been hired to follow Cho-San’s limousine!”
“I know he’s the one who drove Pennington, because we took his license number,” Hammond stated flatly. “His name’s Grogan, and he seems to be on the level. He says they lost Cho-San’s limousine somewhere in Chinatown. They followed another by mistake and it brought them up in front of Cho-San’s curio shop. Pennington told Grogan to stop and wait while he took a look at the place. While the lieutenant was gone, two tough eggs from the second car shoved pistols through Grogan’s window and told him to drive on. Grogan had no choice but to obey. He came back here to his regular stand, and we nabbed him for questioning. That’s all!”
“And isn’t it enough to persuade ye that both Pennington and Commander Winslow are in deadly peril?” retorted Splendor bitterly. “Why did ye have to wait till I arrived, before raidin’ Cho-San’s layout? Get busy, now, call up all your reserves—every fightin’ man ye can deputize for the job. What’s holdin’ ye?”
“Nothing, sir, now that you’ve ordered it!” replied Hammond, his honest face flushing red. “Of course you’re aware we’ll need to find evidence of lawless activities in order to justify a raid. Cho-San has both wealth and influence to fight criminal charges in any court!”
“And what of that?” the lion-maned cripple roared back. “By this time Don Winslow and Pennington will have found enough evidence to hang that yellow fiend higher than Haman. Away with ye, Hammond! Collect your men, and be sure that one of them is husky enough to carry me on his back. Legs or no legs, I’ll lead this raid if it’s me last act!”
Without a word Hammond departed, swept from the room by the blast of Splendor’s fierce energy. As the door closed behind him another opened to admit Mercedes Colby still in her flying togs.