Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 7, 1928 — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“YOU'VE KILLED PRIVACY!” won’t tell the police anything, because you've got nothing to tell that you can prove. They can search this place, if they want to, and prove nothing ex- cepting that I am living here for the present, and conducting some radio ex- periments, having rented the place tem- porarily from the absent Mrs. Moran, who had kindly consented to keep the fact secret by virtue of double rental with the explanation that I wanted to keep my experiments quiet.” “Suppose I told the police that it was you who murdered Edison Ward?” Coddington exclaimed with a shudder. “ Damn you, you know that when I agreed to let you work with me a little, I had no idea of standing for murder, or any other serious crime. You came to me and told me your story about being gypped out of an in- vention by old man Ward. “Vou claimed that you could come pretty near reproducing Edison Ward’s secret invention on the televisor, and that you had a scheme whereby we might get hold of the secret anyhow, and freeze Ward out. I consented when you intimated that we might work on the young man’s hatred of publicity, to get him to retire and give us a free field. Even when you sug- gested getting up a bomb scare to try to frighten him out of it I thought it would be all right.” “Well,” Redfern admitted easily. “ Your statement as to how we got into business together is fair enough, as be- tween ourselves, but how would it sound if you started telling the police about my alleged murderous doings, and I should bring forth certain little documents that have passed between us that would indicate your criminal par- ticipation?” : Coddington started visibly. “No communication from me has any reference to killing Ward,” he as- serted. “Tf you stop and think,” Redfern went on evenly, “ you will recall two or three that pretty closely link us up. 169 So closely that, with one or two things that I have up my sleeve which you have evidently overlooked, you would be directly implicated in any charges you made to the police. So, as I start- ed out to say, it needn’t remain to be seen very long as to whether you will report me to the police or not. You won't, old dear. Not if you know what’s healthy for you. “As for this poor nut who threw the bomb at Ward the other day, I ad- mit I made a mistake ever taking him into the organization. He went off on his own hook in that premature at- tempt, and nearly spilled the beans, Fortunately, his form of insanity is of the fanatical variety and he won’t try to implicate me. If he does, he can’t prove anything. As for the bomb that killed Edison Ward, I can prove by some twenty witnesses that I was not in the Ward house at the time, and I defy you to explain that bombing or con- nect me with it in any way. That’s enough of that. “Now, as to whether you will con- tinue on with me and do what I want you to, that needn’t remain to be seen very long either. That’s what I brought you here for. You are going to help me get hold of that secret for- mula of Ward’s, and then you are go- ing to see to it when the business is reorganized that I have a controlling. interest in the stock of the corporation in return for that formula, which shall be entered in the new capitalization scheme as my property.” “Tl see you in hell first,” Codding- ton snorted. “You may see me in hell, but you'll be there first,’ Redfern retorted. “ Let me tell you something. I’m going to rule or ruin in this matter. I started out to get revenge by wiping out the Wards and with it the International Corporation. As far as this formula is concerned, after using it for my pur- poses, I am inclined to think that we won’t manufacture this televisor. I agree with my devoted followers that COMIC OOO KS (E@)