Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday THE LIE DETECTOR DR. THORNTON opened tlie door of the dispensary, but no sooner had he crossed the threshold than he stopped short with a httle cry. The others, crowd- ing in behind him, stared at the prone figure of the janitor. "It's Tony!" exclaimed Bob, and he stooped to examine the insensible suflerer. •Say, he's badlv burned! Get a stretcher and rush him to Emergency. And get some Carron oil." Carole rushed out along the corridor; Dr. Thornton went to a shelf and returned with a bottle of the specified oil and some cotton-wool. "It's acid, all right." growled Mac, crouching beside the janitor while Bob dabbed gently at the burned face. " Who'd want to hurt that poor guy?" "It's worse than that." lamented Dr. Thornton, who had looked at the broken bottle on the floor. "Tliis acid is strong enough to kill a man How is he?" "Pretty bad," said Bob. "It got him mostlv in the mouth and eyes. Here, take this." Thornton restored the bottle of oil to its shelf, and then Carole returned with another nurse and an interne, and Hank and an orderly appeared outside the open door with a wheeled stretcher. Tony Green was lifted gently on to the stretcher and bonie away to the emergency room. Bob went over to the tall cabinet and opened the drawer containing the case of instruments he had admired the night before • "Sergeant, come here! " he cried. Mac joined him at the cabinet, and so did Carole. "Just the one scalpel's missing," said Bob. "You see where it fits in the case?" The detective pinched his undeiiip between finger and thumb. He had not failed to notice the broom, the dusters, and the bucket on the floor close to where Tony had fallen. "Looks like that poor guy came in here to clean up," he remarked, "and whoever was stealing the knife tosged the acid in his face when he saw them. Who couli have come in here?" " Almost anybody." Dr. Thornton told him. "The door's always open." "What I want to know," fumed Bob. "is who tried to throw suspicion on Dr. Thornton by stealing his scalpel." "There are several things I'd like to know," said Mac grimly, "and Tony will tell us when he comes to." "Maybe," said Carole without any great confidence. " But who turned off the lights in the theatre—and how? Tony won't know that!" The detective's grey eyes widened. He had forgotten about the failure of , the lights. ,, ■ , "That's right!" he exclaimed. ' Wheres the switch-box?" _ , "Down in the basement, said Bob. "Come on—I'll show you." They went out from the dispensary, and they descended to the basement, a gloomy senii-underground region which rose to ground level only at the rear of the build- ing, where there was a door at the end of the principal corridor. The furnaces of the heating system were in a vast cellar at the front, and it was in that direction Bob turned, ■Has everybody got access to this place?" asked Mac. "Yes," nodded Bob. "The corridor we've just left leads to the nurses' and internes' quarters. Here we are." They had come to a recess shut off by wire gates, and the recess was in dark- ness. Bob turned a switch on the wall, and an array of electrical meters, fuse- boxes, and control gear became illumin- ated. He opened one of the gates and they went into the recess. "Here," explained Bob, "we have an emergency system, so that if anything happens to the I'egular current it auto- matically switches on to the emergency." He blinked at a contrivance plugged-in Come on, I'll show BOY'S CINEMA above one of the switches—a contrivance with a dial. "Say, what's this?" he exclaimed. "What is it?" Mac moved nearer. "It's an automatic control." he said. "See. it was set so that it cut the current at a certain time for two minutes." "So the murderer didn't need an accomplice to come back here and turn the lights on again!" "Set for ten minutes after nine." com- mented Mac. "And the operation was scheduled for nine," said Carole, frowning at the gadget. "They didn't leave themselves much time, did they?" "Not enough time to get back here and remove this automatic switch, anyway," growled Bob. "I'm beginning to put two and two together around here." 'So am I." said Mac savagely. "I'm going to take everyone down to head- quarters and see what the lie detector says!" "We have a recording sphygmomano- meter, if you'd like to use it." Bob informed him. "A what?" "A sphygmo— you. It's easier." They ascended to a room on the first floor which contained many filing cabinets and an instrument for recording blood- pressure and heart-beats. The doctors and nurses who had been in the theatre at tiie time Morton was killed were sum- moned to the room, and one after another they occupied a chaii- beside the instru- ment, an elastic bag was fastened rotmd an arm with a band of cloth and air pumped into it. and Mac blared questions at them. Dr. Donald Fox submitted smilingly to the test, then hurried away because he w'as needed for another operation. Bob and Carole and Lila Haines followed one an- other witliout providing the detective with any sensational revelations, and then Dr. Kennedy bared his left arm and sat down in the chair. The elastic bag w"as fastened round his arm and was filled with air. and an inked needle began to trace his heart-beats en a ruled cylinder of paper. "You're left-lianded, aren't you?" barked Mac. •Uhuh," nodded Kennedy. "You stood next to him during the operation?" "I did." The marking on the cardio- gram was normal. "Why did you kill your tmcle?" Mac blared in his face. "I didn't kill him!" cried Kennedy. The detective turned to Dr. Thornton, who was watching the line drawn by the needle. "What does it say. Doc?" "That he's excited," the old surgeon replied, "but the pulse is very even and steady. There was a considerable jump. naturally, when you shouted at liim. But otherwise he's as cool as ice." "Murderers usually are." said Mac. Norman Kennedy made a scornful gesture. "You're wasting your time with me, sergeant," he drawled. " Oh, all right." Mac waved a hand, and Caroie unfastened the bag. "You're next, Doc." Thornton took Kennedy's place in the chair. "Are you sure this machine is the lie detector?" Mac inquired of Bob. "Oh. absolutely." was the reply. "You see the needle tracings on that chart give a rapid and accurate anal.ysis of tiie cardio-vascular condition, and it also gives you a definite picture of pulse strength and regularity. That's just about what a lie detector does," Hank was peeping round the open door of the room and was impressed. Carole, who had been fastening tiie bag round Thornton's arm. announced that all was ready, and Mac st<xxl over liin^. ■ifou knew Dr. Morion pretty well, didn't you?" he questioned. "You used to be a good friend of hLs?" "Hardly that," demurred the elderly surgeon. "Just professional as.sociates." "You used to be chief surgeon here, didn't you? " ■ Yes. I was." "How'd you lose >our job?" It was a crude question, crudely put. but Dr. Thornton did not seem to rriind it. "My right arm became lusele.ss after an operation." he an.swered. "and I resigned " "After Dr. Morton got the job he had the glory, and you pounded pills. You resented that, didn't you?" ■ No, I did not!" The ink-line made a jump on the chart. "Say, who operated on your arm?" demanded Mac suddenly. "I'd rather not discuss that." "Dr. Morton operated, didn't he?" Tht ink-line made another jump. "And after the operation you were through as a surgeon?" There was no reply, but Dr. Thornton looked upset. "You thought he'd crippled you to get your job—didn't .you?" bawled Mac. "You carried a grudge against him! You hated him! You've been planning this murder." The needle was making violent move- ments on thi chart. "No!" gasped Thornton, and he fell back in the chair, his eyes closed, his face a sickly v/hite. Bob caught hold of him; Carole began to remove the bandage from his arm. Get the adi-enalin, quick!' directed Bob. But the old surgeon opened his eves and panted; "No—no; never mind. I'm—all right. So sorry. I—got—too excited. Sergeant, would you mind if I—go—and get mvseli —a stimulant?" "Okay, Doc," nodded Mac, "but don't go \yandering out of the hosaital, becau.-A' that machine is pointing a finger rig'nt at you." Dr. Thornton got to his feet and stag- gered towards the door. ■"Shall I go with you, doctor?" asked Carole anxiously. ""No, thank vou, dear," he murmured. "I'll be all right." THE SECOND SCALPEL THERE was silence in the room for a little while after Tliornton had gone out and tottered past the gaping porter, and then Mac waved a hand as thouaii the case was finished. "I knew it was only a question of time," he said. "They all crack eventually." "He didn't kill Morton," scoffed Bob. ■ You know he hated him!" "So what? He wouldn't wait five years before trying to get even. And he cer- tainly wouldn't use his own scalpel, would he?" The detective scowled. "Say, who's cross-examining who around here?" he demanded. "All right, the rest of you go back to your hospital duties. I'm not going to jalace anyone under arrest till after I've talked to Tony " Kennedy and Lila went off as though not sorrj" to escape. Bob went over to one of the filing cabinets and opened a deep drawer. "I can clear Dr. Thornton right now." he stated over his shoulder. "Come here a minute—I'm going to show you a cardio- graph reading of Dr. Thornton's heart action taken only a few weeks ago." Mac joined him at the drawer and was shown a cardiogram. "Those iiTegular peaks and valleys." explained Bob, "show that he iias a very bad heart." Mac frowned at the strip. "What're you trying to tell me? You mean those lines jumping all over the paper wlien I was asking him questions don't mean anvthing?" riecemher Sni, 1930.