Doctor X (Warner Bros.) (1932)

A CRACKERJACK NEWSPAPER SER “DOCTOR X” Lee Taylor was a seasoned newspaper man. ee PLANT STORY WITH MANAGING EDITOR This serialization of "Doctor X," divided into twelve chapters, is given you in order to make it possible for you to take advantage of the tremendous vogue for newspaper mystery stories. In giving this serialization to your local newspaper, be sure that the final chapter isn't published until at least one day after the picture has finished its run, and that the story is definitely tied up with your show. The newspaper will undoubtedly run a two or three-day advance ad campaign calling attention to the starting of the story. Get credit in those ads, if possible. “DOCTOR X” Chapter I—Moonlight Murder By WILTON CHALMERS From the Sensational First National Mystery, “Doctor X°’ On one side of the street was the House of Death; on the other, the House of Sin. Lee Taylor stood in the darkness Opposite the morgue, a tall, gangling young man with a cigarette held loosely in his lips. The street was deserted until suddenly a limousine with curtains drawn came swiftly down the block, pulling up sharply at the curb in front of the looming shadow-shape of the morgue. Three men got out, one with his coat-collar pulled up and his hat fay down over his face. They were like three black ghosts as they entered the grim precincts of the morgue and vanished as though the darkness had swallowed them. And Lee Taylor, watching tensely, threw away his cigarette and crossed the street. At the door of the morgue he found a bulky shadow waiting, which, as Lee came closer, was revealed as.a plain clothes man. “Where are you going?” said the shadow. “Inside.” “No, you ain’t,” replied the shadow. stiffs go in here tonight.” Lee winked. “Really? What’s keeping you out?” And he turned back the lapel of his coat to display his press badge. “That don’t mean a officer gruffly. “I got me orders. Nobody goes in—you newspaper guys included.” The young reporter assumed his most reasonable and appealing manner. “Now look, Sergeant. All I want to do is to go in and identify a body.” “J ain’t listening.” : “What’s Commissioner Stevens doing down t this time of night?” pe ow're seeing things,” said the plain clothes man. “Now run along before you get in trouble.” “Only heneobstacle was really immov-— aren’t here yet—it’s too early.” “Listen, lady, all I want to use is your telephone.” : * “There’s one down on the corner in the cigarStore,” said the woman crossly. ~~ “T haven’t got time to go down there.” Lee drew a bill from his pocket. “Come on! Bea sport !” The woman’s eyes became softer. She took the bill and drew back for Lee to enter. The House of Sin was silent as the House of Death across the way. In a dark corner of the hallway Lee found the telephone, and as he _ dialed for the number of the Daily World, he saw by.a clock hanging on the wall that it was twenty minutes past eight o‘clock. “Give me the night desk,” said Lee. “Murph? This is Lee Taylor. I’m down at the Mott Street Morgue. About half an hour ago they brought in the body of an old scrubwoman who was murdered under peculiar circumstances. They won’t let me see it and I can’t get any dope. Police orders. Just now Stevens, O’Halloran and a guy named Doctor Xavier arrived. Yes, Doctor Xavier. Something’s doing!” From the other end of the line came the night editor’s sleepy voice. “Yeah. Sure. I’ve heard that before.” Lee was growing more and more excited. “Listen, you lunkhead, I’m not clowning. Look out the window a minute.” Fhere was silence for a moment. The night editor looked out of the window. Then came his voice, vibrant with emotion. “What do you mean—the moon?” “Certainly. Ten bucks to a dime it’s another moon killer murder!” The other man was wide awake now. that’s different! Now stick right on it; Pll hold a scarehead and a two-column lead. If anything pops call me right back—I’ll have a rewrite man at my elbow!” Lee Taylor hung up the receiver and went out into the street again. A large morgue car was pulling up on the other side, behind the limousine in which the three men had arrived. The flickering moonlight fell upon several bodies in the morgue car—or rather upon the canvas with which they were covered. ~ The young reporter paused. His brows were bent, but his eyes moved keenly up and down the street. When Lee Taylor looked that way, ~he meant business. Chapter II Doctor Xavier Inside the House of Death a little group of men were gathered around a table on which lay something covered with a sheet. — Police Commissioner Stevens stood beside the stern, ascetic-looking man whom young Lee Taylor thing tonight,” said the . full of the moon with Fass cs “Well, ' had described as “a guy named Doctor Xavier.” “What’s your theory, Doctor?” asked the Commissioner. The other’s lips were pressed tightly together before he spoke. “Strangulation by terrifically powerful hands.” a : “What do you think of that incision at the base of the brain?” “Obviously,” said Doctor Xavier, “it was made by a type of scalpel used for brain-dissecting.” He bent over the body. “Left lumbar muscle missing.” “It’s been torn right out,” said Detective O’ Halloran. Doctor Xavier looked up. “Gentlemen, it wasn’t torn.” He paused. “This is cannibalism. This portion of the body was——” “No! No!” cried O’Halloran, sickened; and the Commissioner, his face white, exclaimed: “Impossible !” “There’s no doubt of it,’ said the Doctor quietly. “The condition of the tissues is unmistakable.” : With a nod to-the morgue-keeper, who began to cover the thing on the table, he turned away. Commissioner Stevens stopped him. “Look here, Doctor. This is the sixth murder in the same number of months—all committed in the no apparent motive—by a oon 2 7 tan_and_an incision with done this: “I’m convinced of it.” The other’s voice rose in anger. “This is preposterous! I have spent twenty-six years bringing my institution to its present standard. I am familiar with the character of every student and professor, and they are all men of the highest integrity! Why, there are other academies in the State——” “But they don’t have those kind of knives,” interrupted Detective O’Halloran. “The surgical supply house swear they imported them from Vienna especially for your institute, and it’s the only place in this country where they’re used.” Beads of perspiration were on the forehead of Doctor Xavier. “Commissioner Stevens,” he said, “if you jump to a hasty conclusion like this you will ruin the prestige of an institution ~that has one of the best reputations in the world! The publicity—the newspapers !” The Commissioner was silent, but O’ Halloran spoke. “Don’t worry about that. We don’t want publicity any more than you do.” “Please!” cried Doctor Xavier. “If my academy is under suspicion, give me a chance to conduct an investigation of my own first! Obviously the murderer is a maniac; it’s a mental case. With our knowledge of the brain, haven’t we every facility to catch a madman?” “How would you proceed?” asked Stevens dryly. “By immediately studying the pathological reaction of every man who fell under suspicion. Then trap the guilty one with a brain experiment.” _ “Can we examine the records of your students and faculty?” “Most assuredly. We can go to my office right now if you wish.” He moved quickly toward the door, followed slowly by the other two. Suddenly the Doctor stopped. “Remember,” he pleaded, “no publicity! I beg you!” “Don’t worry,” Stevens answered. “Not one newspaper in the country will hear about this until you’ve had every opportunity to clear your academy of suspicion.” They were gone. The old morgue-keeper shuffled out after them. Silence reigned in the House of Death. Then one of the canvas-covered bodies moved. It rose to a sitting posture. The canvas was thrown back, and Lee Taylor, white and trembling, lowered himself from the marble slab on which he had been lying. Swiftly and quietly he hurried to the door and out of the building. He was a very frightened young reporter. But he had heard a lot. (To be continued tomorrow) IAL Chapter II]—The Strange Companions of Doctor X From the Sensational First National Mystery, “Doctor X°’’ In the office of Doctor Xavier, somewhere deep amid many halls and twisted turnings in the Xavier Academy of Surgical Research, an overhead light was burning. Heavy curtains were drawn across the windows, and no sound came from the world outside. In one corner of the room stood a human skeleton, white and startling in the prevailing gloom. The Doctor himself, seated at his great desk, looked up at Commissioner Stevens and Detective O’Halloran, from the roster of students which he had been examining. “Inasmuch as all these students are away on their vacations, I hardly think it wise to spend much time on them,” he said. The Commissioner was about to reply when O’Halloran suddenly exclaimed in a startled voice: “Who’s in that room?” and wheeled about toward a door just behind him. “That’s probably Professor Wells,” said Doctor Xavier calmly. “That’s his private laboratory.” “What’s he doing here if the school’s supposed to be closed?” “It is nothing unusual for the faculty to spend their evenings here at this time.” But Stevens was suspicious. “What’s the history of this man?” “Well——” and the Doctor hesitated. “We're waiting, Doctor.” ‘The scientist said slowly: ‘Professor Wells is a student of cannibalism. He has written a book about it.” “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” burst out O'Halloran. “It’s as good as a conviction !” “J hardly think so,” said Doctor Xavier suavely. “I am very fond of Dr. Wells. He couldn’t possibly do a thing of that sort.” “Can we talk to him?” “Certainly.” And he led the way into the next room, where, in the midst of a perfectly appointed laboratory, a man was seated at a bench. In front of him was a jar which contained, immersed in fluid, a strange and sinister object, at which Stevens and O’Halloran stared in fascination. Professor Wells looked up pleasantly as Docghekievier_intraduced the visitors. — al mF . ay 5 Commissioner Stevens was staring now at a pair of shoes which lay on the radiator at one side of the laboratory. They still bore traces of wet mud and had evidently been placed there to dry. | “I imagine,” said the Commissioner, “that you stick pretty close to your bench, don’t you, Professor?” “Not necessarily. I played truant about an hour ago. I-walked over for a cup of coffee.” “How is the arm tonight?” asked Doctor Xavier. A shadow passed across Wells’s face. “Very annoying. If you people don’t mind——” With these words he extended his left hand, seemed to unbuckle some device with his right, and then slowly pulled the left hand away from his arm as though from its socket. “I just put it on as I heard you coming,” he said, still holding the artificial hand. “An empty sleeve is revolting to most people.” Stevens and O’Halloran looked at each other and grinned sheepishly; and as they left the room with Doctor X the latter said with twitching lips: “Not much chance of strangulation with one hand, eh?” : “I agree with you,” replied Stevens gloomily. “He’s out of the picture.” From under another door light was streaming, and O’Halloran indicated it with a gesture. “That’s Professor Haines’s room,” said the Doctor nervously. “Is there anything about him that might justify us in putting him under observation?” Doctor Xavier was becoming impatient. “If we're just looking for someone to hang suspicion on, there isn’t a man on my faculty who wouldn’t come under that heading!” “Then you do know something about this man Haines?” Once more the Doctor was silent for a moment. Then: “Yes. Professor Haines and two other scientists were shipwrecked off Tahiti last year while making a study of the coral reefs for the Killary Foundation.” “What’s strange about that?” “They were adrift for twenty-four hours,” said the Doctor, speaking slowly and almost painfully. “When they were picked up Haines and one other man were delirious. The third had vanished. Haines later claimed the man had died and he had thrown the body overboard.” disappointed. Chapter IV Who Is the Murderer? The eyes of Stevens and O’Halloran were agleam with interest. “Can we meet this man Haines?” “Surely,” said Doctor Xavier. “But I am convinced that he also is innocent. The killer is a maniac while Professor Haines is one of the most brilliant men in the medical world.” He crossed the corridor and pushed open the door of the lighted room. The occupant of the room rose quickly from the chair where he had been reclining. A most unusual man, unmistakably, was Professor Haines—a man of quick and decided movements; but he had not moved so quickly in concealing something under one of the cushions as to prevent the eyes of the representatives of the law from observing the act. Doctor Xavier introduced them and Haines bowed. “I have just been telling Mr. Stevens of some of your phenomenal experiments in brain cauterization.” “Thank you, Doctor. I have a few specimens here.” But as he turned toward his bench, O’Halloran quickly whipped something from below the cushions and concealed it. Doctor Xavier stopped his colleague as the latter was about to remove the lid from one of the jars on the laboratory bench. “Really, Professor, it’s rather late. Mr. Stevens wants to see the rest of the laboratories. Now that he has met you he can drop in some other time.’ “Oh, surely,” said the other, looking rather A 2 1+ ft him, and on the way out i = Pe ees ‘oe “Haines is the type : ‘papie.. of almost anything,” Doctor ier explained, “but I assure you he’s as timid as a lamb. He is inclined to be attentive to my daughter, and I see a lot of him.” Stevens nodded, his thoughts plainly moving forward to untraveled ground. “Who else is around tonight?” “Dr. Rowitz should be here. He is the other scientist who was with Haines during the shipwreck. If you’ll step this way——” He preceded the other two into a huge domeroofed room in which an immense telescope was mounted. A man was looking into the “finder” of the telescope, and at the noise of their entrance he wheeled around, facing them. Stevens and O’Halloran caught their breaths sharply. The face that confronted them was marred and ghastly, and the man was wearing a smoked-glass monocle to cover one empty eye-socket. This, it appeared, was Dr. Rowitz, who clicked his heels together and bowed in the manner of a German cavalry officer of prewar days. “Also, gentlemen, my colleague, Professor Duke.” And he indicated a sour-faced old » Iman seated in a wheel-chair at some distance in the large and dimly-lighted room. Doctor ooo addressed the old man. “Good evening, Professor Duke. H song , ow do you feel 6 * Horrible!’ came the answer in a vicious snap. “I am sorry to hear that!” “If it makes you sorry to hear things lik that, then don’t ask anes 1? se Doctor Xavier looked at his visitors with a smile. “I’m sure,” said Stevens, “we are hold ing these gentlemen up in their work, If you'll excuse us——” Rowitz clicked his heels and bowed again, and the three intruders left the observatory. “Does that man Duke always talk iE like that?” asked Stevens. — Ye “Oh, we make allowances for him,” said Doctor Xavier quickly. “The poor man was stranded on a Polar expedition fifteen years ago and as a result has suffered paralysis. However, he is a_ brilliant surgeon and we wouldn’t think of parting with him.” “But the face on the other fellow!” exclaimed O’Halloran excitedly. “That sailor who saw the murder of the scrubwoman tonight said the killer had a face like a monster. And Rowitz certainly fits that description !” (To be continued ) Page Nineteen