The Mystery of the Fifteen Sounds

by Van Powell

  Chapter 28 THE FUSE

  From the pay station in the drug store Roger got the hospital and wasconnected with Grover.

  "Is Astrovox all right? Did he say anything?"

  "He will probably recover, Roger, but he won't talk for many days,perhaps for weeks."

  Rapidly, concisely, Roger outlined the situation.

  "But I told you----"

  "I am not in the lab. I went right away from there, making sure all thesafety things were still on, before the firemen had pulled away."

  "Don't go back, no matter what. And--Roger--be sure your room isprotected fully before you go to bed."

  "What's the matter? Do you know?--who is it?"

  "I don't know who it is, but some desperate person has determined toprotect him or herself by any necessary means."

  "The Tibetans?"

  "I think not, Roger."

  It was some person or group recognized by Astrovox. That recognition hadled to the blow he was suffering from.

  "Fortunately, it was not fatal," Grover continued, "and I stayed hereless to hear him, for I knew that would not be probable. I was here toprotect him if anyone, knowing he lived, tried more desperate methodsstill."

  "You can't stay day and night."

  "No," answered Grover. "Potts is on his way here now. I will be home inan hour or a little more than an hour."

  Roger asked one more question.

  "Why would they want to lure me to the lab?"

  "No other way to get in."

  "But they did get in, Grover. The lyco----"

  "Probably touched off with a long pole, from the skylight. They couldbreak the glass, insert a long pole, like the one we use to shift theventilators. To draw firemen who would smash in--or set off an alarmthat would bring you, especially after the preparation by Toby."

  "Then he----"

  "Probably someone either paid him well, or else, as I think is morelikely, he really had left the powder there. Some one knew it."

  "Why should I be bothered?"

  Grover's theory was that through his reputation as the Ear Detective, orelse because of some film or other data, the suspected miscreant fearedhim as he had feared Astrovox.

  The conversation ended and Roger, finding his old friend, the taxidriver, on his night station, used his car.

  At home he made certain that the devices, moved from Doctor Ryder'sresidence, which no longer seemed threatened, because the absence of theEye of Om had been explained to the Tibetans, all worked. He shifted therecording needle a dozen turns of the threaded arm that made it follow aspiral path. The call of "fire" and the crackling noises occupied onlythe start of the disk. He set the recorder to fall in place further overtoward the center.

  Switching on the electrically charged locks, he kept his desk lampburning while he retired.

  Just as he was about to turn it out, the light died.

  Thinking that the bulb had been used up, he tried another light, just asa precaution, recalled to mind by the doctor's experience.

  That light was unresponsive.

  At once Roger raced to the door into the hall.

  With no current the lock, with his key inside, turned readily.

  Intuition told him what had happened here, as in the other instance.

  The cellar fuse box had been opened and a fuse had been removed. Thatprevented current from entering the circuits, and even the alarm wassilent, although he knew that cutting off the current served as well asany other way to start the recorder disk and the camera. He cut them offhurriedly.

  "I'll want them, maybe, a little later," he told himself. "Whoever didthis will have to come up two flights of stairs. It will give me justtime to re-adjust them to go on again, if I want. And I hope he or sheor it left the fuse by the box."

  He had a plan. A trap, made useless to protect him, could be made usefulto hold someone else!

  Slipping into his bathroom, with his clothes carefully tucked under hisarm, Roger unlocked the door into Grover's adjoining room.

  He went in there stealthily.

  Then, waiting, he listened.

  His one danger lay in the chance that the miscreant might come by way ofGrover's room, if it was known to be empty.

  As he heard someone working a jimmy or other springing implement on hisdoor, very quietly, though, he slipped into the hall with as littlenoise as the hinges of the door allowed. It was hardly likely that theslight squeaks were audible down the hall.

  He saw a man, bent low, his back fortunately turned that way, as hetried to snap open the lock without much noise, perhaps trusting thatRoger slept soundly and would not awaken.

  Like a wraith slipping without sound along a haunted hallway, Roger gotto the stairway. Its noise must be risked. He trod close to the wallside, stepping two lifts down to avoid a known faulty stair.

  It required nice psychological deduction to enable him to use his trap,if the fuse was available. The marauder, or worse, must be in the room,and as Roger hoped, he would probably have shut the door to muffle anycommotion from getting to other possibly occupied rooms.

  Once in, the person would see he was not in bed, and had not been, andwould either take a moment to discover if he hid, or would pause toconsider; he must have been watching, must have seen Roger arrive.

  The fuse, when he snapped on a cellar bulb in the garage, was on a ledgeunder the switch box. Was it too soon, Roger wondered, to screw it intothe tiny receptacle?

  He must not wait too long. His absence once assured, suspicion and fearwould drive out the one who was now _his_ quarry.

  He must risk it at once.

  He screwed home the small 15-ampere fuse.

  With hopeful heart and padding feet he ran up the cellar steps, up thenext flight, and paused to take observations.

  All was quiet.

  Had his trap sprung? He could tell by finding a rubber glove amongGrover's things, with which to try the knob he had so recently turnedwith ease into his bathroom.

  He got the insulating glove from among some old laboratory togs, too bigfor him but satisfactory for his need.

  With care he turned the knob. The door did not yield. The system was on.

  A difficulty came into mind.

  To see if he had a captive he must release the heavy charge, by use of asmall cable-key that broke the circuit. If his presumable evil-wisherwas caught, he might get out before Roger could re-set the system.

  He listened. There was not an audible sound, coming through the door.