“Shut up!” said Carlson’s guide. “Here’s the Doctor. Take him upstairs. Step lively, will you! Keep right hold of my arm, Doc.”
Carlson counted three flights of stairs, then he heard a key turned just beyond the head of the stairway, and he was led into a room.
“Shut the door!”
It was done.
“Now take off the blinder!”
Carlson’s eyes blinked as the muffler was removed. But as soon as his eyes got accustomed to the light, he realized that the room was only dimly lighted.
Two men and one woman, all masked, stood nearby. One of the men had come with him in the car. The other was a huge man, a giant. The woman was short and rather scrawny-looking, to judge from her hands and neck.
“Now, Doc, a word with you alone,” said one of the men. “Come here!”
He stepped into a small dressing room and Carlson followed.