Doc Savage: The Secret of Satan's Spine (The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage Book 15) by Kenneth Robeson, Lester Dent, Will Murray Read Free Book Online Page A

daughter in Richmond.” He bowed his head in Monk’s direction. “For now, please accept my sincere apologies, Mr. Mayfair. Ah do not know what Ah will do with my only daughter. She is too old to turn over my knee and administer a fatherly reprimand. Perhaps Ah will seek out a psychiatrist on her behalf. These embarrassing antics must cease; the family will never live it down otherwise. And we have long-lived reputations to uphold.”
    With that, Mr. Raymond Lee exited the reception room, the door opening and closing behind him, operated electrically by Ham Brooks from the desk.
    AFTER the visitor had departed, Ham looked sternly at Monk and announced, “I expect you to pay for that damaged cane.”
    “You can have whatever is left in my wallet,” said Monk hollowly.
    “Well, hand it over then,” demanded Ham.
    The billfold went sailing across the room, landed in Ham’s cupped hands, and he riffled through it, producing not a single dollar bill.
    “What! Are you that broke?” asked Ham in an injured tone.
    Monk’s neckless head sank between his sloping shoulders, and he looked at the floor. “Broke is the least of my worries right now. I canceled my trip to England.”
    “Doesn’t your ship sail tomorrow?”
    “Yeah, but my luggage is on its way to Shreveport.”
    Ham eyed Monk severely and said, “Let this be a lesson to you. In the future, you should be more skeptical of women, especially of the blonde variety.”
    Monk backed up to a comfortable leather chair and slammed his broad body into it, looking crestfallen.
    The hairy chemist looked so dejected that the dapper lawyer decided not to pursue the point. Instead, he asked, “Where is Doc Savage?”
    “How would I know?” Monk said miserably. “I ain’t seen him in two days.”
    “Nor have I since yesterday. But no matter. I am sure he will return presently.”
    They sat in silence for several minutes until abruptly Monk Mayfair sprang to his feet. He leveled a hirsute finger at Ham Brooks.“Say, if you witnessed that rumpus at Pennsylvania Station, why didn’t you follow them?”
    “Why, I did. But I lost them in Brooklyn.”
    Monk made curious faces and asked, “Why would they go to Brooklyn?”
    “Of course,” Ham said thinly, “I have no idea.”
    “That Raymond Lee looks like he has dough, and if he was stayin’ in New York, he’d put up in the city, wouldn’t he?”
    Ham Brooks considered this for a moment, then said, “If his daughter is visiting Manhattan, he might be lying low in Brooklyn to avoid encountering her by accident.”
    “It’s a big city, and if he was following her, why would he make it harder to get on her trail?”
    “You have a point,” Ham admitted. “Still, his story stacks up.”
    “Yeah,” growled Monk. “Like a stack of jokers. And I ain’t buyin’ it. I think he kidnapped Davey, stashed her somewhere, and came by to give us the breeze.”
    “You mean to say that display was all an act?”
    “It was,” returned Monk savagely, “a polished version of the bum’s rush.”
    Picking up the telephone, Ham snapped, “I’m going to look into his story.”
    “You do that little thing,” growled Monk, charging for the door. “I’m gonna see if I can’t pick up his trail!”
    “Try not to blunder into any more trouble than usual, you magnet for the mentally impaired.”
    “The trouble I got in mind,” Monk gritted, “is the kind I dish out, not the kind I collect from others.”
    The door closed behind the hairy chemist, and Ham Brooks briskly began dialing the telephone number.

Chapter V
    GRIM GENTLEMEN WITH GUNS
    FOR MANY YEARS now, Doc Savage had maintained a secret institution in the heavily forested wilderness of upstate New York, nestled in sheltering mountains renowned for their remoteness from habitation.
    This establishment did not have an official name, but among Doc Savage and his associates, it was euphemistically called the “College.” The College was perhaps the most unique