FURTHER DEDUCTIONS
ONE hour after Lamont Cranston’s startling discovery, a taxicab pulled up in front of Troxton Valdan’s home. A tall, long-faced man alighted, carrying a small bag. He was immediately accosted by the policeman on duty.
“Doctor Lagwood?” questioned the bluecoat.
“Yes,” replied the arrival. “Where is the police commissioner?”
“In the basement laboratory,” said the officer. “I’ll take you there, sir.”
Three men were in the little laboratory when Doctor Seton Lagwood arrived. Police Commissioner Barth, Detective Joe Cardona and Lamont Cranston were still upon the scene of the crime. Troxton Valdan’s body remained in the spot where it had been discovered.
“I received your message, commissioner,” stated Lagwood. “It was at the hospital when I arrived there. I was told that you had discovered new developments.”
“We have,” assured Barth.
“Is this another victim?” queried Lagwood, indicating Valdan’s body.
“We are not sure,” returned Barth. “Our examination has centered upon this cardboard box. Could you give us your opinion on these two guinea pigs, doctor?”
Lagwood brought the box into the light. He frowned in a quizzical manner. He lifted one of the guinea pigs and shifted the stiffened creature from hand to hand. At last, he replaced the guinea pig in the box.
“The condition of this rodent,” declared the specialist, “bears a marked resemblance to that of my patients at the Talleyrand Hospital. These cavies certainly appear to be in a state of suspended animation. I cannot, however, state positively that they have succumbed to the same malady until after I have made a blood test.”
“Ah!” exclaimed Barth. “You have found an unusual blood condition in the victims at the hospital?”
“I have discovered such traces,” assured the physician. “I have also applied various methods of treatment. But as yet, there has been no result. The victims are alive; their state of rigidity appears to be lessening. I hope for their recovery, that is all.
“So far, I have been unable to diagnose the exact nature of the malady. To some extent, it resembles Trypanosomiasis, the African sleeping sickness; or it might be an acute form of epidemic encepholitis, to which the term sleeping sickness is also applied. These diseases, however, show manifestations of lethargy or torpor, more than complete coma.
“Seth Tanning and the other three patients are in a marked state of catalepsy; they have assumed that unusual trance condition which, in past years, frequently led to burials of living persons, under the impression that they were dead.
“Most perplexing is the fact that this action was simultaneous. At first, I was inclined to believe that they were victims of general anaesthesia, a condition from which they should by now have recovered.
“This, commissioner, should give you a brief idea of the complications which I have encountered. I have hesitated to apply any one method of treatment in unlimited fashion. In fact, I am still experimenting with pharmaceutical preparations, in hopes that a mild dosage of one prescription may give indications of success.
“These cavies” — Lagwood smiled as he surveyed the two inert guinea pigs — “may prove to be the very subjects that I require for experiment. I can take risks with them that I would not consider in the case of my human patients. First, the tests. If they coincide with my findings in the hospital, I may be able to find the solution to the problem.”
IT was plain to the listeners that Doctor Lagwood was forgetful of crime in his hope of medical progress. He viewed the guinea pigs as an important discovery because they might aid his work at the hospital. It was Commissioner Barth who brought the physician’s attention back to the important question of the present.
“We have a dead man here,” stated Barth, pointing to Valdan’s body. “Apparently, he had climbed up that ladder when something overcame him. Do you believe, doctor, that he could have succumbed to this same mysterious malady that has affected those two guinea pigs?”
“Certainly,” responded Lagwood, promptly. “There is every indication of it. The fact, however, would be difficult to prove.”
“Why so?”
“Because the victim is dead. We may assume, however, that he was overcome simultaneously with the guinea pigs. My belief is based upon last night’s occurrence. Had any of those victims at Tanning’s been upon a ladder, they would have fallen in the same manner as this man.”
“Then you believe that the death was accidental?”
“In a sense yes. In a sense no.” The physician’s long face showed a furrowed smile at his own paradoxical statement. “I should say that the fall from the ladder was accidental. But I cannot speak for the condition which induced that fall. You are faced by the same problem that you found at Tanning’s.”
“That’s right,” asserted Joe Cardona. “Commissioner, I’ve got a theory about last night. Four people going out all at once. It must have been some gas that knocked them out.” He turned to Lagwood. “What’s your opinion on that, doctor?”
“I had the same idea,” responded Lagwood, seriously. “In fact, I had planned to try vapor treatments in an endeavor to neutralize the blood conditions of the patients. But my observations in this laboratory lead me to believe that we may be concerned with some amazingly virulent bacillus, not with a noxious gas.”
“That sounds incredible!” exclaimed Barth. “Last night, four persons were overcome simultaneously. Here we have the evidence of the guinea pigs, to indicate that Valdan was overcome by the same cause. Cardona may be right, doctor. A gas—”
“What of these guinea pigs?” interposed Lagwood, indicating the crate upon the floor.
A SMILE showed upon Lamont Cranston’s lips as Barth and Cardona turned toward the crate. Commissioner and detective had forgotten all about the shipment that had been delivered. The guinea pigs in the crate were all alive.
“The hypothesis of a poison gas,” stated Lagwood, “is one that I now find it necessary to reject. I shall, however, make experiments upon one of these rigid guinea pigs, utilizing a vapor as a neutralizer.
“But it is evident that a poison gas, loosed in this closed room, would have had effect upon all life simultaneously. None of the rodents in this crate show any signs of lethargy. Besides that, commissioner, there is another point to be considered. How soon after death was the body discovered?”
“Almost immediately,” replied Barth.
“Was the door of this room opened or closed?” questioned Lagwood.
“Closed,” stated Barth. “Valdan’s assistant opened it and entered with the servant.”
“Did either of them experience any dizziness?”
“They made no statements of that sort.”
“Which proves,” concluded Lagwood, “that no noxious gas was present. In this small room — with no open windows — the atmosphere could not have cleared before those persons arrived.”
“That is true,” agreed Barth. “Tell us, doctor, what would you propose as the next step?”
“For my own part,” responded Lagwood, emphatically, “I should like to return to the hospital and begin experiments upon these guinea pigs at once. This dead man is a problem for the police. My duty is to consider the welfare of four who are still alive.”
“You are right,” said the commissioner. “Cardona, call a cab for Doctor Lagwood. Tie up that box with the two guinea pigs. Human lives are still at stake.”
The specialist departed with the guinea pigs boxed beneath his arm. The commissioner seated himself at Valdan’s table and began to strum upon the woodwork while Cranston looked quietly about the room.
“A new quiz may bring the answer,” speculated the commissioner. “Either Benzig or Crowder could have been in this room. Their meeting upstairs did not take place until some time after Benzig claims to have left here.