Irving Wallace - The Golden Room

After a while, he lowered Holmes's arm, turned away and left the room to rejoin Bruce, Alan, and Pinkerton. 'He's alive, but barely,' the chief said. 'His pulse is very feeble. I don't know if he'll make it. We'd better get him to the County Hospital at once.'

That moment the doorbell rang, and Alan answered it. The policemen summoned by Bruce rushed into the room.

The chief, hastening back to the office, called out, 'Soren-son. Prescott. Nadler. What are you doing here?'

'A Mr Lester telephoned us about a Dr Holmes. He -'

'We already know,' said the chief. 'Glad you're here. The three of you carry Dr Holmes out to your car. Take him to the County Hospital. He's in poor shape. We don't want to lose him, so take it easy, but don't waste a minute. Stay there for word of his condition. The minute you know if he'll live or die, telephone and let me know. Take down this number.'

One of the men copied the number, then hurried to help his partners remove Holmes's body from the chamber.

The chief of police confronted Bruce. 'Now tell me again what happened. Why did you hit the doctor on the skull like that?'

'I had to get Holmes before he got Alan.'

The chief frowned. 'Better back up a step and tell me how you got mixed up with Dr Holmes in the first place.'

Bruce tried to restrain his impatience. 'My aunt Minna Everleigh was looking for a place for Karen and Cathleen to stay, and Dr Holmes volunteered his house. When the Club was reopened, Alan and I were sent to pick up the ladies. Dr Holmes was here, but he told us Karen and Cathleen had left already. His answers were so evasive that Alan became suspicious. Alan managed to get his hands on a set of the doctor's keys. After we'd left here, we let ourselves in for another look. We hid in the entry and saw Holmes tell Karen and Cathleen they had to sleep with him or he'd kill them. They both refused. Holmes locked them up in that crazy room, and he was just about to turn on the gas. Then Alan and I came out of hiding and we overpowered him. That's when I smashed Holmes on the head.'

'You shouldn't have done that,' said the chief of police sternly. 'You might have killed him.'

'He was trying to kill them,' Bruce protested.

'You can't be sure of that,' said the chief. 'He may have said he was going to do so, but he may not have meant it.'

'What do you mean?' Bruce exploded. 'I saw him going for the gas lever -'

'He may never have used it.'

'I can't believe what I'm hearing,' Bruce said.

'Wait a minute,' Pinkerton interrupted. He faced the chief of police. 'When I went to the police station and showed you all the evidence I'd gathered against Holmes, you agreed to come here with me to see if the ladies were safe.'

The chief of police bobbed his head. 'I agreed to this because you had some suspicion that Dr Holmes might be up to no good. However, you had no solid proof, Mr Pinkerton, that Holmes was a murderer. A scoundrel, yes, but no absolute evidence that he was a killer.'

'You heard Bruce tell you what he was witness to,' Pinkerton argued. 'I say that's more than enough evidence that he's a murderer.'

Bruce broke in. 'If Holmes lives, I'll swear in court that he planned to kill Karen and Cathleen. Until then, Chief, the rest of us would like to get right back to the Everleigh Club.'

The chief of police shook his head. 'I'm afraid you can't do that, Mr Lester,' he said. 'You took the law in your own hands when you attacked Dr Holmes. There is still not a shred of concrete evidence that Dr Holmes ever committed murder or ever intended to. Unless we can find such proof, you may be involved in a crime, young man. Your partner as well. That is, if Dr Holmes dies.'

'The whole thing is absurd,' said Bruce.

'It's anything but absurd,' the chief countered. 'If we can prove that Dr Holmes is indeed a murderer, you'll have no problem.' He surveyed the room. 'But I don't see any corpses around.'

Karen pushed forward. 'When Cathleen and I were locked in here, I searched for some way to escape. There was none. But over there in the floor I did find what may be two trap doors. You'd better see where they lead.'

Chief of Police O'Neill beckoned to his three officers. 'Captain Zubukovic, let the lady show you where she thinks she saw some trap doors. If they exist, remove them and find out where they take you.'

As Karen walked towards the chamber with the policemen, the chief turned to Bruce.

'Unless they lead to real evidence that Dr Holmes is a murderer, you're in trouble.'

While waiting for the outcome of the search down the trap doors, they all sat in the doctor's office.

Pinkerton sat with Chief O'Neill, going through a file of notes on his investigation of Dr Holmes.

Bruce and Alan sat huddled with Karen and Cathleen, struggling to make conversation about the wedding, and about Minna and Aida and the restored Everleigh Club. The talk was mostly intermittent. Bruce and Alan were plainly worried by the turn of events, and the unfairness of the chief's interpretation of the law.

At one point Bruce addressed himself to the chief of police and to Pinkerton. 'I wonder what's happening?' he asked.

'Maybe nothing,' said the chief. 'Or maybe something. We should know any minute.'

The chief went back to Pinkerton. Bruce and Alan continued their conversation with Karen and Cathleen, trying as best they could to reassure the shaken women that they were really safe and could relax at last.

It was more than an hour before the three policemen, somewhat dusty and dirtied, finally reappeared. All three came out of the airtight room, crossed the central hall, and came into the office.

Everyone instantly fell silent. All eyes were on the police.

Chief O'Neill spoke first. 'What did you find, Captain Zubukovic?'

'Miss Grant was right,' said Zubukovic. 'There were two trap doors in the floor. One led to a narrow staircase that Dr Holmes obviously used to descend into a basement-level room. The other trap door opened on to a chute, a kind of slippery slide by which human bodies were dropped into that basement.'

'Human bodies?' repeated Chief O'Neill. 'What gives you that idea?' He added with emphasis, 'I want facts, not fantasies.'

'I have facts, Chief,' said Zubukovic. 'You want to hear what we found in the basement?'

'Tell me,' said the chief.

'We found an operating table – blood has been washed off but some still exists in patches – upon which Dr Holmes apparently dismembered the bodies of his gassed victims. There is a vat with traces of quicklime. It looks as though Dr Holmes dipped his dismembered victims into it.'

Chief of Police O'Neill interrupted with annoyance. 'All speculation, Captain. I told you I wanted facts.'

'Then,' Zubukovic resumed doggedly, 'we found a huge furnace. A huge one. Big enough so I could step inside. I counted twenty-seven skulls, and the worst tangle of charred ribs, pelvic bones, thigh bones, shin bones and other human remains – it's too gruesome to go any further.'

Chief of Police O'Neill was standing. 'Twenty-seven human skulls,' he echoed with disbelief. 'Twenty-seven?'

'Precisely,' said Zubukovic. 'That's how many we sorted and counted. Most of them women, I'd guess. That doctor probably tricked them into coming here, then tried to take advantage of them. I imagine he gassed them whether he had his way or not, then dissolved the bodies, cut them up, and cremated the pieces. That's the truth, Chief. You should see for yourself. Miss Lester and Miss Grant are lucky to be alive.'

Chief of Police O'Neill stood silently, contemplating what he had heard.

Suddenly the telephone on the desk rang. The chief seemed to rouse himself out of a state of shock. He stepped towards the desk to take up the telephone.

'Officer Sorenson at the County Hospital,' a voice announced.