lingering note. She was lost in a silent world from which only one sound could recall her— the voice of Fu Manchu.
* * *
A man entered through the archway. He never even glanced at the motionless, kneeling figure. He bowed, briefly but respectfully, to Fu Manchu. He was short, dark, and thickset, with a Teutonic skull. He wore a long, white-linen coat, like that of a surgeon. Dr. Fu Manchu crossed and seated himself at the table. “Koenig—tonight you will go to the Huston Building. The duplicate key you made after Miss Navarre’s last visit opens the private door and also that of the elevator to the thirty-second floor. On the thirty-second floor there is another elevator. The key opens this also. Any questions?”
“No.”
“It will take you to the thirty-sixth, where you will enter the office of Dr. Craig. The laboratory adjoins the office. The communicating door is locked. A man called Regan will be on duty in the laboratory. He must be induced to come out. Any questions?”
“No.”
“M’goyna will be with you—if this alarms you, say so. Very well. Regan must be overpowered and taken back to the laboratory. M’goyna will then remain there with him. You will make it clear to Regan that should M’goyna be found there, he, Regan, will be strangled. Regan must speak on intercommunication should Dr. Craig call him. Any questions?
“No.”
Dr. Fu Manchu clapped his hands sharply.
“M’goyna!”
The embroidered curtain which partly concealed a recess in the wall was drawn aside. A gigantic figure appeared. The shoulders of an Atlas, long arms, grotesquely large hands, and a face so scarred as to be incomparable with anything human. A red tarboosh crowned these dreadful features, and the figure wore white Arab dress, a scarlet sash, and Turkish slippers.
Slowly M’goyna came forward. Every movement was unnatural, like that of an automaton. The huge hands hung limp, insensate— the hands of a gorilla. Like a gorilla, too, he coughed hollowly as he entered.
Koenig clenched his fists, but stood still. Camille remained kneeling. M’goyna crossed to the long table and came to rest there facing Dr. Fu Manchu, who addressed him in Turkish.
“Change to street clothes. You go with Koenig to the Huston Building.”
“With Koenig to the Huston Building,” M’goyna intoned in a rasping voice.
“You will be shown a man. You must seize him.”
“Shown a man. I seize him.”
“You must not kill him.”
M’goyna slowly revealed irregular, fanglike teeth and then closed his lips again. He coughed.
“Must not kill him.”
“You are under Koenig’s orders. Salute Koenig.”
M’goyna touched his brow, his mouth, and his breast and inclined his head.
“You will do as he tells you. At ten o’clock I shall come for you. Repeat the time.”
“Ten o’clock—you come for me?”
“At ten o’clock.” Dr. Fu Manchu turned to Koenig and spoke one word in English. “Proceed.”
Morris Craig’s office was empty. Night had dropped a velvet curtain outside the windows, irregularly embroidered with a black pattern where the darkened building opposite challenged a moonless sky.
Only the tubular desk lamp was alight, as Craig had left it.
So still was the place that when the elevator came up and stopped at the lobby, its nearly silent ascent made quite a disturbance. Then no movement was audible for fully a minute—when the office door opened inch by inch, and Koenig looked in. Satisfied with what he saw, he entered and crossed straight to Camille’s room. This he inspected by the light of a flashlamp.
Noiseless in rubber soles, he moved to the laboratory door and shone a light onto the steps leading up to it. He examined the safe and went across to the long windows, staring out onto the terrace.
Then, turning his head, he spoke softly.
“M’goyna—”
M’goyna lumbered in. He wore brown overalls and a workman’s cap. That huge frame, the undersized skull, were terrible portents. He stood just inside the door, motionless, a parody of Humanity.
“Close the door.”
M’goyna did so, and resumed his pose.
“The man will come out from there.” Koenig pointed towards the laboratory. “Seize him.”
M’goyna nodded his small head.
“Choke him enough but not too much—and then carry him back. You understand me?”
“Yes. Must not kill him.”
“Hide here, between the couch and the steps. When he comes out, do as I have ordered. Remember—you must not kill him.”
M’goyna nodded, and coughed.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Koenig switched off the desk lamp. Now it was possible to see that the night curtain beyond the windows was studded with jewels twinkling in a cloudless heaven. Koenig shone the light of his lamp onto a recess between the leather-covered couch and the three steps.
“Here. Crouch down.”
M’goyna walked across as if motivated by hidden levers and squatted there.
Koenig switched his lamp off. He paused for a moment to get accustomed to the darkness, then went up the three steps and beat upon the door with clenched fists.
“Regan!” he shouted. “Regan . . .
He ran down and threw himself onto the couch beside which M’goyna waited.
Followed an interval of several seconds—ten—twenty—thirty.
Then came a faint sound. The steel door was opened. Green light poured out, such a light as divers see below the surface of the ocean;
rays giving no true illumination. The office became vibrant with unseen force.
Regan stood at the top of the steps, peering down.
“Dr. Craig! Are you there?”
He began to descend, picking his way.
And, as his foot touched the bottom step M’goyna hurled himself upon him, snarling like a wild animal.
“My God!”
The words were choked out of Regan. They faded into a gurgle, into nothing.
“Not too much!
M’goyna grunted. One huge hand clasping Regan’s throat, he lifted him with his free arm and carried him, like a bundle, up the steps.
Koenig followed.
The door remained open. Green light permeated the office filled with pulsations of invisible power. Then Koenig reappeared.
“You understand—he must answer calls. If Dr. Craig, or anyone else, comes in . . . you have your orders.”
He closed the door behind him, so that silence, falling again, became a thing notable, almost audible. He stood still for a moment, taking his bearings, then crossed and switched up the desk lamp.
Noiselessly he went out.
The elevator descended.
Chapter XII
“Wake!”
