"Perfectly ready," he replied struggling to control his voice. "Only I
should like to know what all this means? Why attack me?"
"You'll find that out soon enough, Captain; but first I'll do the
questioning."
"Not until I know one thing, at least--what has become of the man who
was with me?"
"Well, I might as well tell you," carelessly. "He got hurt; the fool
compelled me to hit him with a gat; so he's out of it, and you might as
well come through clean--that guy isn't going to help you any."
"You mean you killed him?"
"Well, he's out of the game; that's enough. And as for you, your best
play right now is to talk up straight." He laughed sneeringly, "Unless
you want to call up your friend Karvan, at the City Hall, you know. Hell,
but you was easy!"
"Easy?"
"That's what I said. I knew you all right when you first blew in, only I
wasn't quite sure. Just had a glimpse of you once before. I naturally
guessed your smoke-inspector stunt was a sham. So, I ran that Fred Karvan
stuff in on you. You ate it up, which gave you clean away, for I never
knew any guy of that name. Do you see the point, Captain West?"
"Yes, I see all that plainly enough, but it does not explain the attack
on me. You evidently know my name, and this assault has been
deliberately made. Why? What have you against me? I have never seen
either of you before."
"Perhaps I'll tell you when you explain. What brought you into this
neighbourhood.
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