Always Leave ’Em Dying by Richard S. Prather Read Free Book Online

factory—and at the same moment, I understood why such a big ape had been out at the gate. Probably several more apes were handy in case of uprisings. The tennis player was raising a hell of a racket, and because I wanted no uprisings now that I seemed close to Miss Dixon, I said, "Sure, fellow, don't get excited. Where— uh, where's the ball?"
    "Right there." He pointed at my feet.
    Feeling very damned silly, I said, "Oh, that ball," bent over, and pawed at the ground. "Not there, you fool," the guy shouted at the top of his lungs. "By the other foot. You blind or something?"
    I grabbed some air by the other foot, straightened up, and threw it to him. He beamed, leaped into the air, and caught it, then ran off without so much as a thank you.
    The little red-haired gal was still watching me, frowning now, and I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it. I couldn't think of anything that would make sense of this. Finally, I decided to play it light. I laughed and said, "Can't see a thing without my glasses." She wasn't amused. So I walked on up to the gray building, through a big door like the entrance to a library, and into a short high-ceilinged corridor with a polished dark floor. Two closed doors with plain frosted-glass windows were on my right. I walked to the corridor's end, where it bisected another long hallway lined with more doors. Just around the corner was a room with a wire screen enclosing it. Inside were rows of wooden compartments and I could see clothing, boxes, packages in them.
    The only person in sight was a small, slightly potbellied man walking down the hall toward me. He was about fifty years old, dressed in a brown suit, and whistling silently through pursed lips. The little man stopped alongside me. "Good evening," he said. "I haven't seen you before, have I?"
    "Evening. I just got here."
    "May I be of assistance?"
    "Maybe. I'm looking for Miss Dixon—or a man named Randolph Hunt, if he's here."
    He pursed his lips. "Nurse Dixon, eh? She won't be back for"—he glanced at his wrist watch—"several days."
    "She's a nurse, huh? She . . . Several days?"
    He pursed his lips again. "Yes." He was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Perhaps I can help you. I am Dr. Nichols, the chief psychiatrist."
    That settled it. "Doctor," I said, "where am I?"
    "Don't you know, my boy?"
    "I mean I know this is Greenhaven, but what is it?"
    "Why, Greenhaven—" He broke off, staring over my shoulder. "Oh, dear," he said.
    I looked around, and there was the little beauty with the hair and shape and everything. She was standing about a yard away, looking at me. "What's the matter?"
    The doctor didn't speak, so I said, "I was just explaining to Dr. Nichols here that I've got—"
    She interrupted. "Just a moment. I'm Dr. Nichols."
    "Yeah, sure," I said. "We're all three Dr. Nichols." I was starting to get a little griped, because finding out anything in this place was beginning to stack up like a lifetime job, and I was in a hurry.
    The girl said quietly, "I am Dr. Lynette Nichols. Follow me, please."
    I went along. We all walked down the hall to a door marked, "Dr. Nichols, Chief Psychiatrist." She opened the door and said to me, "I have to take Mr. Wallace to his room, but I'll talk to you in a minute. What's your name?"
    She spoke crisply, and I noticed that what I'd earlier thought was a white dress was actually a starched uniform. "Shell Scott," I said. "I'm a private detective."
    Her lips curved upward a little at the corners. "What's so funny?" I asked her. "Look, I need some help, some information—from somebody here—and it's important." I told her why I was at Greenhaven and what I wanted to know.
    She nodded. "All right, I'll be back in a minute."
    "Please hurry, will you? I wasn't kidding when I said it was important."
    She nodded again, turned, and went out, the guy following her docilely. I stood in the doorway and watched her walk down the hall. She paused for a moment