“Never mind the comments!” Colonel Welsh snapped as he gently eased the bound man down onto the floor. “Hand me that knife on the desk, one of you. And you’ll find a small bottle of brandy in the lower right door of the middle desk. Confound my luck. This makes a mess of things, I’m afraid!”
A hundred and one questions hovered on Dave’s lips, but he had sense enough to keep them there. Explanations would come later—probably. But right now the idea was to act, not talk. He got the knife while Freddy fetched the bottle of brandy. Colonel Welsh prodded the gag from the bound man’s mouth, then slashed the ropes and pulled them off. Then all three of them started rubbing the man’s wrists and neck. He groaned slightly, and a moment later his eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Colonel Welsh, and seemed to recognize him, for the blood started coming back into his face.
“Don’t talk yet, Rigby,” Colonel Welsh said gently. “Take a sip of this, first. Just a sip. I don’t want you choking to death on me.”
The man smiled weakly and took a tiny sip of the brandy the Colonel held to his lips. The fiery liquid seemed to do wonders when it hit the bottom of his stomach. He panted a couple of times, gave his head a shake or two as though to clear away the cobwebs, and then started to hoist himself up on his feet.
“Getting okay by the minute, sir,” he said. “If you’ll just help me to one of those chairs. The underpinnings are still a little rubbery.”
Colonel Welsh helped him across the office to one of the chairs. Then he let the man take another sip of the brandy. The second sip doubled the work of the first. The man pressed his hands to his face for a moment, but when he took them away there was plenty of color in his cheeks, and a clear light replaced the dazed glaze that had been in his eyes. He started to speak, but checked himself and looked down at his wrist watch. A worried frown creased his brows as he looked up again at Colonel Welsh.
“A good three hours ago, sir,” he said in a rueful tone. “I guess I must wear cotton stuffed in my ears. I didn’t—”
The man called Rigby stopped short and shot hard quizzical glances at Dave and Freddy.
“It’s all right,” Colonel Welsh told him bluntly. “Two of my men. Now, what about three hours ago? What happened? Give me all the details.”
As the senior officer spoke, he swept the entire office in one searching glance, then brought his eyes back to Rigby’s face.