Rick Brant 9 Stairway to Danger

by John Blaine

  When the recital ended, Captain Douglas looked from one to the other. “I think the big question is,why were you attacked? Obviously these men didn’t know Rick and Scotty were there. So the attack must have been just for you, Mike. And I’d say they were interested only in shooting you, not trying to kidnap you.”

  Mike was big and blond, dressed in slacks and sports jacket. The jacket was made to conceal the fact that he carried a .38 in a shoulder holster. Rick knew he seldom carried a gun, but tonight Mike had acted on a hunch.

  “I didn’t know anything about the hit-and-run car or the amusement park,” Mike said, “until Rick and Scotty gave me the details on the way here. I came down because they asked me to find out about the present ownership of the place and I found what seemed to me to be an interesting tie-in.”

  “What was it?” Captain Douglas asked.

  “The amusement park is owned by Soapy Strade’s brother-in-law!”

  The boys gasped. Soapy Strade was the gang chief who had escaped from prison the night they arrived fromHong Kong , the one for whom the road blocks had been set up.

  Scotty whistled. “Don’t tell me we’ve been tangling with his mob!”

  “We’ll soon find out,”Douglas stated. He pushed a buzzer and a trooper came in. “Get me a picture of Soapy Strade, Joe.”

  The trooper was back in a few seconds. He handed the picture to Captain Douglas who wordlessly passed it to the boys.

  Rick gulped. Talk about playing with dynamite! Soapy Strade was the redheaded man with the big jaw who had been in the fun house last night.

  “You can add a mark on his left cheek,” Scotty said shakily. “I smacked him solidly with a rock.”

  Mike Curtis shook his head. “For years, really tough guys try to nail Soapy with rods, knives, and submachine guns, and then he runs into the Spindrift gang and gets beaned with a rock! If I’d known it was Strade and company shooting at me from behind the trees I’d have been a much more careful citizen, and you can believe that!”

  “Maybe they’ll catch him at the road blocks,” Rick said hopefully.

  “I’m afraid not,” Captain Douglas replied. “He’s too smart to get caught in a net, but I’d better warn the Civil Defense people and my own men that Strade is in this area.” He buzzed again, gave instructions to the trooper,then beckoned to the boys. “We have a rogues’ gallery. It isn’t very big, but it has the best-known mugs from this area. I want you to take a look. Maybe you can pick out a few of Soapy’s pals.”

  Scotty spoke up. “There’s a big question in my mind. Mike, how did they know you were coming to Page 59

  White-side? And how did they know where and when to lay for you? And most of all, why did they want to get you?”

  “I think I have the answers,” Mike told them. “First of all, I found the dope about the amusement park in a real-estate office where that kind of property is handled. A girl in the office gave me the information, and as soon as I saw the owner’s name I got the connection. I muttered something about Soapy Strade, and she must have heard me. I didn’t know what you two were up to, but I got worried when I thought you were bucking Strade. So I called Spindrift then and there and left a message. She heard that, too.

  She’s the only one who could have tipped off Strade and company.”

  “That doesn’t tell us why they tried to get you,” Rick objected.

  “I think that’s pretty obvious.” He waved his hand at Rick and Scotty. “He tried to get you, didn’t he?

  And for the same reason. He didn’t want his presence in this part ofNew Jersey known. The search for him has been mostly inNew York . Isn’t that right, Captain?”

  “Yes. I think you’re batting a thousand, Mike. Somehow he slipped through the net theNew York police had at the river and got intoNew Jersey . If he hadn’t plowed into Jerry and Rick’s sister, he probably could have hidden out indefinitely in the amusement park.”

  “But he knew that hide-out was no longer safe as soon as we started to prowl around,” Rick pointed out. “He had nothing to gain by wrecking the Cub and trying to kill us.”

  Captain Douglas smiled grimly. “Didn’t he? You saw him, didn’t you? He had no way of knowing whether or not you recognized him, but he probably felt it was better not to take a chance. There’s an old saying that dead men don’t talk.”

  “I still say that wasn’t reason enough to try to get us,” Scotty stated.

  “Soapy Strade doesn’t need a reason,” Mike Curtis said. “He’s as apt to pull a gun on a man because he doesn’t like the color of his eyes as for any other reason. You gave him cause enough just by making a little trouble for him.”

  “All right,” Rick agreed. “But that doesn’t account for his ambushing you. By the time you found out his connection with the amusement park he had already tried for us, and the amusement park was out, at least for a regular hide-out.”

  “There’s something in what you say,” Captain Douglas said. “I think we have only a part of the answer.”

  Mike Curtis patted Rick on the shoulder. “Remember I told you once I’d give you a job any time you wanted one? That still goes. I have to agree that we don’t have all the answers.”

  “But,”Douglas said decisively, “we have enough for some action. Let’s get you started on the rogues’

  gallery and I’ll do something about spreading the alarm that Strade is in our area.”

  The rogues’ gallery was on a series of circular files. Each file had a number of leaves which contained overlapping clear plastic folders. Each folder contained a photo and a description.

  “Are we supposed to go through all those?” Scotty demanded. “Good night! There must be thousands.

  “We’ll be here for a month.”

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  “It’s not as hard as you might think,” Captain Douglas said. “Most of the photos won’t look anything like the men you want. You can rifle through them pretty fast. Just start at the bottom and run your hand up. You can see the photos as they fall back into place. If anyone looks promising, you can take a closer look. Get started while I put a message on the teletype and hand some dope to the radio dispatcher.

  We’ll have half the police inNew Jersey in this area by morning.”

  Rick stared at the files. “I didn’t think there were this many criminals in the world.”

  Mike Curtis grinned. “Good thing for me there are. That’s what keeps me in business. Listen, kids, I can’t be of any help here. I didn’t get a good look at any of those men.”

  “You goingback toNew York ?” Scotty asked.

  “No. I’m going into business right here. Didn’t you know there’s a fat reward for Soapy Strade? If I can catch up with him, it’s money in the bank for Michael Curtis Investigations.”

  “But you haven’t even got a lead,” Rick objected.

  “Sure I have. Listen, Soapy Strade and his pal vanished from the amusement park. Somewhere, they picked up another car and a third man. Correct? Now, I can’t believe they left the area after getting out of the amusement park, because that would mean going by the road blocks twice, once on the way out of the area and once on the way back in. Those Civil Defense auxiliary cops are thorough. Believe me, I know. They stopped me on the way down and gave me a good, long look before they passed me. They all have pictures or descriptions of Soapy. He couldn’t have gotten by them.”

  “So you think he’s still around?” Scotty asked.

  “Yes. I think he’s holed up somewhere, maybe in one of the summer communities. There are plenty of them inside the road blocks. So I’ll just float around and ask a few questions and keep my eyes open.

  You never know what will turn up.”

  “Good luck,” Rick said.

  “Thanks.” Mike said, smiling. “I shouldn’t hold out on you. I’ve another angle, too. If Soapy was tipped off by the girl in the real-estate office, it probably was by phone. In fact, I don’t see how it could have been anything else. So Soapy is somewherenear a p
hone- and there is a record of the call somewhere. It had to be a long-distance call fromNew York , remember.”

  Mike had certainly figured out the angles. Rickgrinned his admiration. “I have an idea where you should start.”

  The private detective held up his hand. “Wait a minute.” He took a notebook and pencil from his pocket and wrote rapidly,then he tore the sheet out and slid the paper face down across the cabinet on which Rick had been leaning. “Tell me. Then take a look at the paper. Let’s see if we think alike.”

  Rick eyed the paper dubiously. “Well, I’d start at the local phone company. There are no dial phones in this area, so operators handle all the calls. I’d find the operators who were on duty this afternoon and talk with them.”

  Mike laughed. “Take a look.”

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  Rick turned the paper over and read: Find phone ops on local board betweennoon andeight p.m. today.

  “On the nose,” he said. “Maybe I’ll take that job, Mike.”

  Mike Curtis winked at him and hurried out the door.

  “There goes a sharp operator,” Scotty remarked. “I’d hate to have him on my trail.”

  “Same here.Come on. Let’s start through these photos.”

  Following Captain Douglas’ advice, the work went rapidly. Rick would put his hand under the bottommost of the photos, which were hinged at the top, then move his hand up slowly, letting the cards fall back into place. Now and then he saw a face that fit the general description of one of the two men who had been with Strade and stopped for a closer look.

  It was interesting. He began to realize there was no such thing as a criminal type of face. Every man in the file had a police record of some kind. Some had served prison terms. Others had gotten off. Others were listed as wanted.

  There were faces that could have belonged to every known profession. Some were gentle, some were tough. Most were just people.

  Captain Douglas came in and asked, “Any luck?”

  “Not so far,” Rick replied, and Scotty confirmed it.

  They resumed the tedious work, stopping fifteen minutes later for a cup of coffee with the captain. Then they went at it again. Just as Rick had decided his leg wouldn’t take it much longer, Scotty let out a yell.

  “Got one!”

  Captain Douglas, Rick, and two troopers came running.

  Scotty pointed to a picture of the caretaker. He didn’t need a shave, and his hair was shorter, but there was no mistaking the man.

  Scotty read the description aloud.“George Blomer , alias Lefty the Gonif.” He read off a physical summary hurriedly and then continued.“Served ten years manslaughter, 1931.Freed on technicality ‘42

  after indicted for knife murder James Strep . Believed implicated mass murderEast River gang.Connected Soapy Strade gang.”

  “Lefty the Gonif,” Captain Douglas said.“A caretaker, no less! Well, he’s taken care of more than a few in his day, even if we can’t prove it.”

  That was a funny nickname. Rick asked its meaning.

  “It’sthieves’ argot,” the state officer explained.“Derived from the Yiddish for thief.”

  Rick shuddered. “We walked right up to him, claiming to be a couple of innocent neighbors looking over the amusement park. I’m glad I didn’t know anything about him then! My knees would have knocked together so hard he’d have thought I was playing castanets with my toes!”

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  CHAPTER XIII

  The Tractosaur

  Through the cities and countryside of easternNew Jersey the hunt for Soapy Strade and Lefty the Gonif was in full cry. Cars passing southward were stopped once, twice, even three times as they reached road blocks manned by Civil Defense or regular police.

  In the area around Whiteside, state troopers patrolled theroads, eyes open for any suspicious event, no matter how insignificant.

  Mike Curtis talked with the officers who had chased the ambush car the night before, and with a phone operator. Then he drew a circle on a map of the area, procured a sample brush kit and became a salesman, knocking on every door.

  Jerry Webster and Duke Barrows, editor of the Morning Record, spent so much time answering queries from out-of-town papers that they had no time to cover their usual beats.

  The Spindrift scientists were interested, of course, but only casually. They had two projects underway, and at least one, the building of the “thinking bulldozer,” was urgent. That project was so near to completion that

  Hartson Brant and Hobart Zircon dropped what they were doing in order to help Winston and Weiss make the final assembly.

  Rick and Scotty slept late. The crash had taken toll of both of them and they needed extra sleep to regain their usual stamina. By the time they came downstairs for a latebreakfast, even Barby had been up for some time. She was no longer limping, and only a discoloration where her leg had been badly bruised remained of her close call.

  When the boys told her the identity of the man responsible, her eyes opened wide. Barby listened to the radio much more than they, and she could repeat tales of Soapy Strade that they hadn’t known.

  “We’ve made Barby’s day for her,” Rick said as his sister ran for the library. “She’ll be on the telephone from now on, telling all her friends about it. I’d better call Dad before she starts.”

  The scientist was at the project. In a few moments Rick had him on the phone. “This is Rick, Dad.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Good. Is something up?”

  Hartson Brant chuckled. “I’ll say so. The highway is crawling with police. A cruiser goes past on the average of once every ten minutes. You certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. However, that wasn’t why I asked mother to have you call. We had a phone call this morning from our . . . our sponsors. You Page 63

  understand?”

  Rick did. That meant the Defense Department, or maybe the Atomic Energy Commission. “I know what you mean, Dad.”

  “Fine.Well, they will have observers here to see a test run tomorrow afternoon. They’re in rather a hurry to get the first model. That means work for all hands, and I want to know if you and Scotty can finish the other control units. If we have a full test it will take all the units. They’ll want to try transferring control from one point to another.”

  “We can do it, Dad. We have the stuff, and the silk screen for the circuit and Scotty’s templates for the case are ready to use.”

  “Good. Then come to work, and be ready to stay late.”

  Rick considered. Getting a ride to the project was uncertain. “We’ll come by boat, Dad. And we’ll be ready to stay over, if we have to. There’s a lot of work on those little things, and we’re getting a late start.”

  “Sure you feel up to it? How’s the leg?”

  “I’ve got a leg,” Rick admitted. “But if I sit down it won’t bother me. It’s only when I stand on it too long.”

  “All right, Son. We’ll look for you later.”

  Rick hung up and went to the kitchen. Mrs. Brant had eggs and ham almost cooked. Coffee was percolating and there was toast browning in the automatic toaster.

  In a short time the hearty breakfast had been consumed, the boys had collected toothbrushes and a change of clothing, and were on their way to the project by boat.

  Again, Scotty was the pilot. The trip by boat would be only a little longer than by car. Also, it gave them a chance to get their thoughts straightened out.

  “We’ve got two unanswered questions,” Rick said. He had to raise his voice to be heard above the roar of the engine. “First, what was the meaning of the light on top of the roller coaster? I’m not satisfied with that signaling theory. Captain Douglas pointed out that a signal has to be to someone, and we have no evidence Strade needed to signal anyone. The second thing is,why did Soapy Strade ambush Mike Curtis? So far as I can see, he didn’t have a thing to gain.”

  “Unless he was anxious to have his connection with the amusement park kept secret a little longer,”


  Scotty suggested.

  “Then that raises a whole new question: Why? There’s a whole lot about this business we still don’t know.”

  “Anyway,” Scotty answered, “we know more about Soapy Strade. I got up before you did this morning and listened to a morning newscast. The story’s out that he is in this area, and the announcer gave a lot of dope about him. He’s a wealthy man, I guess. At least he’s credited with some real big robberies, including a payroll stick-up that netted close to a million. Of course little of it can be proved. He was in Page 64

  jail on a charge of income tax evasion as well as kidnaping.”

  They passed a summer colony and Rick wondered how Mike Curtis was doing. He hoped his friend would win the reward, if anyone did.

  A short distance belowSeaford they saw the roller coaster, most prominent landmark in that part of the coastal area.

  They tied up to the pier in front of the project building. The pier had been built originally to take much bigger boats, when the building was in use as an oceanographic laboratory. Rick had to climb to get to the top of the pier and his leg began to ache again.

  Inside the building, all hands were working on the tractor itself. A workman was welding curved steel plates which had been ordered preshaped for the purpose. They would form the armored shell for the machine. Another workman was rigging a chainfall which would be used to lower the shell when the scientists were ready for it.

  Hartson Brant, Hobart Zircon, and Julius Weiss were studying an oscilloscope, a device which showed the electrical pattern of sound on a circular screen much like that of a television receiver. The principal was the same. Both television and the scope used cathode tubes to project a picture. Rick was familiar with the device. One similar had been used in the Submobile the scientists had constructed for use under water.

  “What’s up?” Rick asked.

  Zircon turned. “We’re trying to establish word patterns to which the machine will respond. So far, we have several. We need as many more.”

  “What’s the scope for?” Scotty inquired.