to spend all that much on advertising.
" What I'm afraid of you see," Gregori went on quietly," is what we may find behind that door. I have not the mind of a detective, but I can see things when they lie plainly before me. Whoever broke his way into Mordon was a desperate man playing for desperate stakes. The end justified by any means—and the only ends to justify such terrible means would be some of the stocks in the virus cupboard."
"Cupboard?" Hardanger drew down his bushy brows "Don't you lock those damn' germs away somewhere safe?"
"They are safe," I said. "The lab walls are of reinforced concrete and panelled with heavy-gauge mild steel. No windows, of course. This door is the only way in. Why shouldn't it be safe in a cupboard?"
"I didn't know." Hardanger turned back to Gregori. " Please go on."
"That's all." Gregori shrugged. "A desperate man. A man in a great hurry. The key to the locker—just wood and glass—I have in my hands here. See? He would have to break in. In his haste and with the use of force who knows what damage he may not have done, what virus containers he might not have knocked over or broken? If one of those had been a Satan Bug container, and there are but three in existence . . .
Maybe it's only a very remote chance. But I say to you, in all sincerity and earnestness, if there was only one chance in a hundred million of a Satan Bug container having been broken, there is still more than ample justification for never opening that door again. For if one is broken and one cubic centimeter of tainted air escapes-----"
He broke off and lifted his hands helplessly. " Have we the right to take upon ourselves the responsibility of being the executioners of mankind?"
"General Cliveden?" Hardanger said.
" I'm afraid I agree. Seal it up."
" Colonel Weybridge? "
"I don't know, I don't know." Weybridge took off his cap, ran his hand through the short dark hair. " Yes, I do now. Seal the damn' place up."
" Well. You're the three men who should really know what they are talking about" Hardanger pursed his lips for a moment, then glanced at me. "In the face of expert unanimity, it should be interesting to hear what Cavell thinks." "
"Cavell thinks they're a pack of old women," I said. "I think your minds are so gummed up with the idea of the Satan Bug on the loose that you're incapable of thinking at all, far less thinking straight. Let's look at the central fact— central supposition, rather. Dr. Gregori bases all his fears on the assumption that someone has broken in and stolen the viruses. He thinks there's one chance in a thousand that one of the containers may have been broken, so if that door is opened there's one chance in a thousand of menace to mankind. But if he has actually stolen the Satan Bug, then the menace to mankind becomes not one in a thousand—but a thousand to one. For heaven's sake take the blinkers off for a moment and try to see that a man on the loose with the viruses presents an infinitely greater danger than the remote chance of his having broken one inside those doors. Simple logic says that we must guard against the greater danger. So we must get inside the room—how else can we begin to get any trace of the thief and killer, to try to guard against the infinitely greater danger? We must, I say."
" Or I must. I'm dressing up and taking that hamster in there. If the hamster survives, good and well. If he doesn't I don't come out. Fair enough?"
"Of all the damned arrogance," Cliveden said coldly. " For a private detective, Cavell, you have an awful lot of gall. You might bear in mind that I'm the commandant in Mordon and I take all the decisions."
" You did, General. But not any more. The Special Branch has taken over—completely. You know that."
Hardanger ignored us both. Grasping at straws, he said to Gregori, " You mentioned that a special air filtration unit was working inside there.
Won't that have cleared the air?"
" With any other virus, yes. Not with the
" What I'm afraid of you see," Gregori went on quietly," is what we may find behind that door. I have not the mind of a detective, but I can see things when they lie plainly before me. Whoever broke his way into Mordon was a desperate man playing for desperate stakes. The end justified by any means—and the only ends to justify such terrible means would be some of the stocks in the virus cupboard."
"Cupboard?" Hardanger drew down his bushy brows "Don't you lock those damn' germs away somewhere safe?"
"They are safe," I said. "The lab walls are of reinforced concrete and panelled with heavy-gauge mild steel. No windows, of course. This door is the only way in. Why shouldn't it be safe in a cupboard?"
"I didn't know." Hardanger turned back to Gregori. " Please go on."
"That's all." Gregori shrugged. "A desperate man. A man in a great hurry. The key to the locker—just wood and glass—I have in my hands here. See? He would have to break in. In his haste and with the use of force who knows what damage he may not have done, what virus containers he might not have knocked over or broken? If one of those had been a Satan Bug container, and there are but three in existence . . .
Maybe it's only a very remote chance. But I say to you, in all sincerity and earnestness, if there was only one chance in a hundred million of a Satan Bug container having been broken, there is still more than ample justification for never opening that door again. For if one is broken and one cubic centimeter of tainted air escapes-----"
He broke off and lifted his hands helplessly. " Have we the right to take upon ourselves the responsibility of being the executioners of mankind?"
"General Cliveden?" Hardanger said.
" I'm afraid I agree. Seal it up."
" Colonel Weybridge? "
"I don't know, I don't know." Weybridge took off his cap, ran his hand through the short dark hair. " Yes, I do now. Seal the damn' place up."
" Well. You're the three men who should really know what they are talking about" Hardanger pursed his lips for a moment, then glanced at me. "In the face of expert unanimity, it should be interesting to hear what Cavell thinks." "
"Cavell thinks they're a pack of old women," I said. "I think your minds are so gummed up with the idea of the Satan Bug on the loose that you're incapable of thinking at all, far less thinking straight. Let's look at the central fact— central supposition, rather. Dr. Gregori bases all his fears on the assumption that someone has broken in and stolen the viruses. He thinks there's one chance in a thousand that one of the containers may have been broken, so if that door is opened there's one chance in a thousand of menace to mankind. But if he has actually stolen the Satan Bug, then the menace to mankind becomes not one in a thousand—but a thousand to one. For heaven's sake take the blinkers off for a moment and try to see that a man on the loose with the viruses presents an infinitely greater danger than the remote chance of his having broken one inside those doors. Simple logic says that we must guard against the greater danger. So we must get inside the room—how else can we begin to get any trace of the thief and killer, to try to guard against the infinitely greater danger? We must, I say."
" Or I must. I'm dressing up and taking that hamster in there. If the hamster survives, good and well. If he doesn't I don't come out. Fair enough?"
"Of all the damned arrogance," Cliveden said coldly. " For a private detective, Cavell, you have an awful lot of gall. You might bear in mind that I'm the commandant in Mordon and I take all the decisions."
" You did, General. But not any more. The Special Branch has taken over—completely. You know that."
Hardanger ignored us both. Grasping at straws, he said to Gregori, " You mentioned that a special air filtration unit was working inside there.
Won't that have cleared the air?"
" With any other virus, yes. Not with the
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