The Veiled Lady (13 page)

Barber, the fat owner of the Scarlet Cockatoo, pressed a concealed button in the shelving of the bookcases behind his desk. He was wearing a saffron-colored suit with a blood-red tie. A section of the bookcase swung out on a noiseless pivot, revealing a small air-conditioned radio room.

Squeezing his saffron-suited bulk around the case, Barber shuffled into the hidden room. He grunted, pushed another button, and was sealed up with the radio equipment.

He seated himself before the radio set, rubbing his pudgy fingers around the circle of his beard.

While he waited for the radio to warm up, he said to himself, "Communications have never gone well on this caper. First I get cut off from McClennan. Now I can't even get a rise out of Silvera or Tinn. We'll give it another try." He spread his huge legs wide, sighing. "Sometimes I wish fate had made me more mobile. Then I could undertake field work myself. If only-"

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The fat man blinked his tiny eyes and gave a surprised snort. A red bulb over the radio set had started to flash on and off. "Trouble," said Barber.

He cautiously shoved back his chair, turning toward the secret door. The red light could be set flashing by flicking various switches around the club. It was a danger signal, meaning somebody was bringing trouble into the Scarlet Cockatoo.

Barber placed one little eye to the peephole in the secret wall. A loud knocking began on his office door.

"Barber, open up! This is the police!' The knocking continued.

"Open up, or we'll let ourselves in! We have a warrant!"

As the fat Barber watched the door of his office, it was forced open. Lieutenant Kiwanda of the Mawitaan police jumped across the threshold, pistol drawn.

Behind the lieutenant came Colonel Weeks of the Jungle Patrol, looking very angry. Then other police and JP men whom Barber didn't recognize.

Barber stayed where he was. Breathing very carefully, watching them fan out around his office.

"There's the bookcase Lemos told us about," said Colonel Weeks, pointing.

Lemos, thought Barber. So it's Lemos who betrayed me. This whole caper is going sour.

"If you're in there, come on out," called Lieutenant Kiwanda.

The left eye of Colonel Weeks, who was directly in front of the bookcase wall, seemed to be looking into Barber's eye. "Let's find the control button," said the Colonel.

A small wheeze was starting to rattle around in Barber's huge chest. He hesitated for half a moment, then punched at a button. The secret wall swung in. "Well, well, Lieutenant," he said as he stepped slowly into their range of vision. "You had better have all the right papers with you, and in perfect order. Otherwise-"

"We'd like," interrupted Lieutenant Kiwanda, "to ask you some questions about ."

Wheezing, the vast man made his way back to his desk. "You want a travel agency, Lieutenant, or a tourist guide. I am neither."

Colonel Weeks caught his shoulder as he was about to sit. "No, Barber, we want you. If you talk now, things may go easier for you."

"Things?" The fat man broke away from the colonel and dropped into a wicker chair. His wheeze was growing worse. "What sort of things do you imagine I've done?"

"It may turn out to be murder," said the colonel "Right now we've got enough to charge you with conspiracy to commit murder."

"Oh, so?" The fat man rested his palms on his knees. "Who is it I murdered, or planned to murder?"

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"Me, for one," supplied Sergeant Barnum, who was leaning in the doorway. "Lemos was all ready to do me in on your orders. And maybe, though I hope not, you had Doe Love and her associate killed."

Barber fluttered his tiny eyelashes at the police lieutenant. "I'm afraid I simply don't understand any of this."

Colonel Weeks dropped both his fists down on the edge of the fat man's desk. "Try to understand this, Barber. Lemos has told us you arranged to have Gabe McClennan take over Doctor Love's flight. There hasn't been one word heard from that girl since she went down into ."

Barber said, "It seems to inc I've heard of this Doctor Love; I read an informative article about her inNational Geographic or some such publication. She's a biologist, isn't she? Why on earth should I be interested in her?"

Sergeant Barnum walked across the office, straight up to Barber's desk. "Because you got it figured Doc Love was really going in after the treasure of ," he said."You stuck your man Gabe with them and as soon as the treasure showed up he was supposed to let you know by radio, Only something went wrong."

"I really don't-"

"It's no use, Barber," the colonel told him. "We know you're in this up to your ears. Lemos has given us enough to put you away for a while. Your only chance now is to cooperate with us."

Barber sighed a wheezing sigh. He rested both hands on his broad chest. "Oh, very well, I'll be docile and helpful. What do you want to know?"

The colonel demanded, "What happened to Doctor Love?"

The fat man let out another sigh. "There you have me, Colonel. I know no more than you."

"Have you heard from Gabe since their copter entered the volcano?"

"Not a blessed word," said Barber. "He was supposed to contact me as soon as he could."

"Wait now," put in the stocky Sergeant Barnum. "You've got a couple of other heavies working on this job. I heard Lemos talking about them."

"He's been most valuable, hasn't he?" said the fat man. "Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I sent two more of my men to find out what had happened. Whether Gabe and the rest had died or whether that stupid spade. . . excuse me, Lieutenant,. . or whether Gabe had double-crossed me."

"Where did you send them?" asked Colonel Weeks.

"Eventually into the volcano."

"Into ?"

"Yes. When I have my mind set on something, I persist."

"How did they go in?"

"By the same method employed by your Doctor Love. They used a helicopter," answered Barber. "It 70

cost me a good deal to hire the blasted thing."

The colonel's head was very close to Barber's. "Have they communicated with you since they entered the volcano?"

Barber inclined one fat hand toward his secret radio room. "Not one word," he said. "I was about to try them again."

"Go ahead and do it," ordered the colonel.

The café owner huffed up, made his way into the radio room. The colonel and Lieutenant Kiwanda were close behind him.

Seated again at the radio, Barber made a fresh attempt to contact Silvera and Tinn. But no word came to him out of . With a tiny smile, the fat man switched to a new frequency. "Perhaps, Colonel, you'd like to hear what your troops are up to."

From the radio speaker came the voice of a Jungle Patrol helicopter pilot. "This is Sandy, calling the Llongo station."

"We read you, Sandy. What's up?"

"The whole damn mountain it looks like. Better alert all emergency crews to be on standby. We may have to evacuate most of the Llongo country around the volcano."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because is starting to act up, buddy. It looks to me from up here like she's going to erupt."

"Good lord," said Colonel Weeks. "We've got to get out there." He spun around and ran from the hidden radio room.

Barber put his fat elbows on the table. "Well, there goes the treasure," he said as Lieutenant Kiwanda took hold of his arm.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The Phantom said, "I think I see a way out." He looked from the gigantic lizard to the wall of the cave. "Doctor Love, shine your light over that way."

Jan did as she was told. "What do you have in mind?"

The great scaly monster was moving ever closer, its tongue lashing at the narrowing gap between them.

"The cavern widens up ahead there, just beyond our lizard friend," said the Phantom.

"Yes, I can see that," said Jan. "But how does-?"

"And there's a ledge running along the wall," continued the masked man.

Gabe was watching back over his shoulder, playing his light on the river behindthem. "I can see the

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first wave of lava coming. We only got a few minutes between it and us."

"As soon as the monster stops being. a cork in our bottleneck," said the Phantom," as soon as the river's clear, move! Jan, you take my paddle."

"But what are you going to-?"

The Phantom crouched, then leaped. He went sailing over the five feet of bubbling boiling water between the side of the copter and the narrow ledge.

"He'll fall," said Jan, inhaling sharply.

"No, he's made it," said Karl, "Get hold of the pad-die and be ready."

The Phantom worked his way along the ledge, moving closer to the great blind lizard. When he was opposite the enormous scaled head, the lizard became aware of him and swiveled its blind eyes in his direction.

"It's going to get him," breathed Jan.

The Phantom edged by the lizard, reaching the wider stretch of cavern safely. Turning now, he kicked Out at the beast. "Hey, you!" he shouted. "Over here! Come and get me!"

Slowly, laboriously, the monster lizard turned. Its great long tongue began to whip at the dodging Phantom.

"This is like waiting for a drawbridge to go up," said Gabe, his eyes on the Phantom and the lizard.

"Over here, over here!" taunted the Phantom. "Come on over and catch me!"

The lizard hissed, its forefeet thrashing at the boiling water, which did no harm to its imperturbable hide.

"That's it!" encouraged the Phantom. "You've almost got me! Only a few more steps!"

The lizard waddled toward him.

"It's clear," said Karl, beginning to paddle.

"Now!" the Phantom called to them.

Jan, too, began using the makeshift oar with all her might. "What about the Phantom?"

"He said go," said Karl. "So we go."

"Boy, that thing gets uglier the closer you get," observed Gabe as they passed the giant lizard.

'When they were parallel to its large snub tail, Jan said, "We can't leave the Phantom here, Karl."

"I don't believe he intends to sacrifice himself for us, Jan," Karl told her. "He must have something in mind." The current was flowing faster, puffing at their raft. "Though I'm having a tough time keeping the boat here."

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The monster lizard had its head aimed straight at the masked man now. Its great jaws swung slowly open.

"I've had," said the Phantom, "about enough of you, old fellow." With a mighty leap, he left the ledge, vaulted over the monster's great gaping jaws, and landed smack on its scaly head.

"Hey!" said Gabe. "He's right on top of the damn thing."

The lizard's jaws snapped shut, catching only humid air. Its head started to turn.

Like a skilled tightrope walker, the Phantom ran, sure-footed, along the lizard's ridged back. Before the blind sluggish monster knew what had happened, the masked man had leaped again.

This time the Phantom landed square on the copter. "Okay," he said, "let's get going, people." He retrieved his paddle from the girl and took over.

"That was marvelous," said Jan. "I never thought you'd.. . well, yes, I guess I did think you'd make it."

"Save your congratulations," the Phantom told her. "He may get himself turned around and make another try for us."

"Yeah, he's starting to move this way," announced Gabe.

The swift current and the strong rowing of the Phantom and Karl quickly lengthened the distance between the raft and the monster.

As the scaly creature came lumbering through the water in their wake, it suddenly gave a high-pitched shriek.

"The lava," said Gabe. "The lava's caught up with him. We're going to get it next."

The Phantom turned his oar back to Jan, and then grabbed up a coiled rope. He rapidly fashioned a loop.

When they were all outside the cave, clinging to the rocky mountainside a hundred feet from the ground, Gabe said, "I never thought I'd be out here again. Boy, it's-"

Then came the most enormous explosion so far.

"Faint light up ahead," he said. "We must be nearing the falls. Gabe, grab the other end of this rope and make it fast to the copter."

Gabe did that. "Yeah, I can see sunlight up ahead. I hope we get to the sunshine before the lava gets to us.

Far behind them, the giant lizard cried out once more.

"Here we go." The Phantom threw his loop of rope, caught an outcropping of jagged cave wall, and tightened.

The loop held, the copter-raft jerked to a stop, yawing slightly, shaking in the tremendous pull of the down-rushing water.

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Jumping from the craft, the Phantom landed on a wide ledge. "We're in luck," he told them. "We can walk along here." He'd brought another rope with him. Looping it over his shoulder, he helped Jan and Gabe up beside him onto the rocky ledge.

Karl was the last to leave the copter. "We're still a few yards ahead of the lava."

The Phantom jogged along the ledge. The cavern opened wide up ahead, a great hole in the mountain through which the boiling waters of the River of Fire gushed. "Yes, we're okay," he called back.

"See, we can follow the ledge out this way and then climb out. That'll put us above the falls, clear of the boiling water. I thought I remembered seeing this ridge here when I was down below a few days ago."

"Can we climb down the side of from there?" asked Jan.

The Phantom said, "Yes, we should be able to."

He worked his way up along the ledge and out into the open. "Yes, we can anchor a rope around this outcropping of rock out here."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE