Down inside, he was a good joe. He didn't want to give me the news, so he put on his professional smile. Both of us knew he was lying. "We will do everything we can. The man will probably recover. As to the woman—"
"You've got to fix her up too, Doc," I begged him. "He doesn't know it, but he'll die without her."
I left the hospital with the memory of his professional smile lingering in my mind. It was a sad smile. It said that in the face of some conditions, even the doctors were helpless.
Reaching the lab, I found that the fire had been extinguished. A deputy sheriff was on guard, to protect the property, and—Herker was there.
"You're hired as a guard for this laboratory." Herker told me. "You're supposed to be on duty at all times, instead of out on all-night drunks. A lot of money went up in smoke because of your negligence. What do you have to say?"
I never wanted to clobber a man as much in my life, but I held my temper in check. I told him what had happened, and explained that the painting was gone.
"You utter fool! Don't you know the company paid a hundred thousand dollars for that daub?"
"I don't care what it cost," I answered. "There's more at stake now than a damned painting, namely Ann's and Tom's life." I walked away from him then. If I had stayed any longer, I would have hit him.
Reports had to be made to the sheriff's office and to the insurance people. Since the lab was outside the city limits, we had a bona-fide sheriff. He was willing and honest and he promised to do everything he could to locate the thieves but both of us knew that this was locking the stable after the horse had been stolen. When I finished with the insurance people and reached my room, the phone was ringing. "To hell with it." I thought. Fatigue was on me in layers. The phone kept right on ringing. Prepared to blister the guy on the other end, I jerked it off the cradle. Tom's voice came over the wire.
"Come and get me," he said.