Кеннет Робсон - Death in Silver

"This sounds bad," Rapid Pace gulped rapidly. "Yes sir, it does sound bad!"

"3 months later, a second merger was under consideration. This one was between Gardner's company and still another. 2 men in the other outfit opposed the union. A private yacht blew up and killed them both. The merger went through."

"For cryin' out loud!" Hugh McCoy exploded, big-voiced, in the rear seat. "That was the merger between Gardner's concern and the Oriental Passenger-Freight Transport."

"Exactly," said Ham. "There was another merger a few weeks ago. And that one also had suspicious circumstances."

"Somebody else killed?" Monk demanded in his characteristic tiny voice.

"No," said Ham. "It was the sinking of the liner Avallancia ."

"Hey!" Monk barked. "We read about that in the paper yesterday. The newspaper story said the Avallancia belonged to Bedford Burgess Gardner's company."

"It did not at the time it was sunk," Ham corrected. "It belonged to the other company — a small concern — and its loss put them in such a bad financial predicament that they had to merge with Gardner's corporation. Gardner gave out that he had already merged. That was so Wall Street would not think the smaller company was financially embarrassed and try to beat down the price of its stock."

Doc Savage asked sharply, "Did financial manipulations in stock feature these mergers?"

"All of them," Ham rapped. "And right here we haul the 'cat out of the bag'!"

"Listen," said Monk. "Use plain English, will you?"

" BedfordBurgess Gardner has made over a billion dollars during the last year!" Ham said slowly and distinctly. "Does that sound like 'plain English'?"

"It sounds like a blasted lot of money," Monk muttered.

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The conversation had not taken long, but the big sedan was traveling fast. They were now on the waterfront, gliding along before frowning phalanxes of pier warehouses.

"Stock ballooning?" Doc asked without turning his head.

"Exactly!" said Ham. "Recapitalization with each merger. And flotations of immense stock issues which were disseminated to the public."

"Again," said Monk, "will you use plain English!"

"Here is a simple example," Ham snapped.

"Make it very simple," Monk told him sourly. "And don't make any cracks about me being ignorant!"

"You own a boat worth a thousand dollars, and I own a boat worth a thousand dollars," Ham explained. "We both carry passengers and freight. We are bitter business rivals. We do anything we can to cut each other's throat."

"I can see how that could be," Monk growled.

"As a result, neither of us makes much money," Ham continued. "I offer to merge, but you refuse. Then I ruin the engine in your boat so you've got to merge. Which is another name for selling out to me."

"Very clear," Monk snorted.

"Now, I have 2 companies worth a thousand a piece," said Ham. "I issue stock — 2,000 shares of no par value — and offer it to the public. If the public has any sense, they won't pay over a dollar-a-share for the stock because that is all my merged companies are worth."

"Hurry it up!" Monk commanded impatiently.

"All right," said Ham. "I bid 3 dollars-a-share for the stock on the market, doing the bidding through a broker so that no one knows my name or even through a 'dummy' purchaser. I jump the price to 4 dollars. The public gets excited and begins to buy. Demand holds the price up or possibly makes it go higher. The result — when all 2,000 shares of stock are sold — is that I have cleaned up an extra thousand-or-two."

"Hm-m-m," Monk murmured, his homely features thoughtful.

"Then I find another company, make it merge with me, recapitalize, issue new stock to the holders of shares in the first merger concern … and do it all over again." Ham leaned back in the seat. "That is what Gardner did, fundamentally. Of course, the actual high finance was a bit more complicated than that. But he has cleaned up almost a billion within the last year."

Rapid Pace whipped around, glared at Hugh McCoy, and clipped, "You work for Gardner. What do you know about this?"

McCoy returned the glare, his too perfectly handsome face turning scarlet.

"I have only been working for Gardner on the Paine L. Winthrop concern merger!" he yelled. "I did not know anything was wrong. And I dare you to show differently!"

"You mean you were so dumb that you did not know you were working for the World's biggest crook?" Rapid Pace snapped.

"Gardner is a devil. A cunning devil!" McCoy shouted. "And don't you insinuate … "

"Pipe down, you birds, or I'll bob you both," Monk advised, his small voice turning into a rumble.

Doc pulled to a stop before an enormous building of brick and steel.

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The structure in front of which they had halted — for all of its size — differed little from other warehouses which stood on piers along the waterfront. A sign on the front read:

HIDALGOTRADING COMPANY

The building was Doc Savage's waterfront boathouse and seaplane hangar. Perhaps dock workers wondered why the place seemed deserted much of the time. But it was doubtful if any knew its true nature.

Doc touched a button on the dash. This operated an ultraviolet light projector on the front of the sedan. The beam in turn actuated a photoelectric cell which caused the great door in the front of the warehouse hangar to slide open.

Doc drove into the enormous building and the door closed automatically behind them.

Rapid Pace and Hugh McCoy stared in gaping astonishment at the array of fast planes! They ranged from a tiny gyro to a great tri-motored speed ship which could carry 2 dozen passengers in excess of 300 mph.

"Hurry!" Doc commanded.

The bronze man passed the planes, opened a door into another section of the building, and switched on lights. If Pace and McCoy had been surprised by the planes, they were figuratively floored by what they saw now.

"A submarin e!"McCoy gasped, and his manicured band strayed up to his eyes as if to see if they were functioning correctly.

Helldiver was the name on the conning tower of the underseas craft.

The Helldiver was probably as unique a sub as man had ever constructed. The conning tower, as such, existed hardly at all. And from bow-to-stern ran great steel, sled-like runners, stoutly braced. The Helldiver had first been constructed for a trip under the North Polar ice.

Doc and his little group of aides had seen 2 great adventures aboard the Helldiver — the first under the Polar ice ("The Polar Treasure — #04") and the second through an underground river into a fantastic phantom city in the Arabian desert ("The Phantom City — #10") .

After the Arabian trip, the submersible had lain idle but carefully greased, the fuel tanks full. The craft was ready for quick service.

"Get the stuff aboard," Doc directed.

McCoy moistened his almost womanish lips. "Are we … are we going under the water?"

Doc studied him. "You do not like the idea?"

McCoy straightened his remarkably square shoulders. "I … I have never been down. But I shall go. I owe it to my reputation to help capture this devil Gardner."

Doc turned to Rapid Pace. "And you?"

Pace shuddered.

"I do not like the idea. I think I shall stay here." He shuddered again. "Yes sir, I shall stay behind! No iron fish for me!"

Then Pace caught Monk's eye. Monk's eyes were small and normally pleasant. But now they were small and not pleasant for Monk was thinking that Rapid Pace had gone out for cigarettes about the time he and Doc were in the East River diving for the mysterious metal box.