Burckhardt shook his head. "Sure, it sounds crazy--but this whole thing is crazy. How else would you explain it? You can"t deny that most of Tylerton lives the same day over and over again. You"ve _seen_ it! And that"s the crazy part and we have to admit that that"s true--unless we are the crazy ones. And once you admit that somebody, somehow, knows how to accomplish that, the rest of it makes all kinds of sense.
"Think of it, Swanson! They test every last detail before they spend a nickel on advertising! Do you have any idea what that means? Lord knows how much money is involved, but I know for a fact that some companies spend twenty or thirty million dollars a year on advertising. Multiply it, say, by a hundred companies. Say that every one of them learns how to cut its advertising cost by only ten per cent. And that"s peanuts, believe me!
"If they know in advance what"s going to work, they can cut their costs in half--maybe to less than half, I don"t know. But that"s saving two or three hundred million dollars a year--and if they pay only ten or twenty per cent of that for the use of Tylerton, it"s still dirt cheap for them and a fortune for whoever took over Tylerton."
Swanson licked his lips. "You mean," he offered hesitantly, "that we"re a--well, a kind of captive audience?"
Burckhardt frowned. "Not exactly." He thought for a minute. "You know how a doctor tests something like penicillin? He sets up a series of little colonies of germs on gelatine disks and he tries the stuff on one after another, changing it a little each time. Well, that"s us--we"re the germs, Swanson. Only it"s even more efficient than that.
They don"t have to test more than one colony, because they can use it over and over again."
It was too hard for Swanson to take in. He only said: "What do we do about it?"
"We go to the police. They can"t use human beings for guinea pigs!"
"How do we get to the police?"
Burckhardt hesitated. "I think--" he began slowly. "Sure. This place is the office of somebody important. We"ve got a gun. We"ll stay right here until he comes along. And he"ll get us out of here."
Simple and direct. Swanson subsided and found a place to sit, against the wall, out of sight of the door. Burckhardt took up a position behind the door itself--
And waited.
The wait was not as long as it might have been. Half an hour, perhaps.
Then Burckhardt heard approaching voices and had time for a swift whisper to Swanson before he flattened himself against the wall.
It was a man"s voice, and a girl"s. The man was saying, "--reason why you couldn"t report on the phone? You"re ruining your whole day"s test! What the devil"s the matter with you, Janet?"
"I"m sorry, Mr. Dorchin," she said in a sweet, clear tone. "I thought it was important."
The man grumbled, "Important! One lousy unit out of twenty-one thousand."
"But it"s the Burckhardt one, Mr. Dorchin. Again. And the way he got out of sight, he must have had some help."
"All right, all right. It doesn"t matter, Janet; the Choco-Bite program is ahead of schedule anyhow. As long as you"re this far, come on in the office and make out your worksheet. And don"t worry about the Burckhardt business. He"s probably just wandering around. We"ll pick him up tonight and--"
They were inside the door. Burckhardt kicked it shut and pointed the gun.
"That"s what you think," he said triumphantly.
It was worth the terrified hours, the bewildered sense of insanity, the confusion and fear. It was the most satisfying sensation Burckhardt had ever had in his life. The expression on the man"s face was one he had read about but never actually seen: Dorchin"s mouth fell open and his eyes went wide, and though he managed to make a sound that might have been a question, it was not in words.
The girl was almost as surprised. And Burckhardt, looking at her, knew why her voice had been so familiar. The girl was the one who had introduced herself to him as April Horn.
Dorchin recovered himself quickly. "Is this the one?" he asked sharply.
The girl said, "Yes."
Dorchin nodded. "I take it back. You were right. Uh, you--Burckhardt.
What do you want?"
Swanson piped up, "Watch him! He might have another gun."
"Search him then," Burckhardt said. "I"ll tell you what we want, Dorchin. We want you to come along with us to the FBI and explain to them how you can get away with kidnapping twenty thousand people."
"Kidnapping?" Dorchin snorted. "That"s ridiculous, man! Put that gun away--you can"t get away with this!"
Burckhardt hefted the gun grimly. "I think I can."
Dorchin looked furious and sick--but, oddly, not afraid. "d.a.m.n it--"
he started to bellow, then closed his mouth and swallowed. "Listen,"
he said persuasively, "you"re making a big mistake. I haven"t kidnapped anybody, believe me!"
"I don"t believe you," said Burckhardt bluntly. "Why should I?"
"But it"s true! Take my word for it!"
Burckhardt shook his head. "The FBI can take your word if they like.
We"ll find out. Now how do we get out of here?"
Dorchin opened his mouth to argue.
Burckhardt blazed: "Don"t get in my way! I"m willing to kill you if I have to. Don"t you understand that? I"ve gone through two days of h.e.l.l and every second of it I blame on you. Kill you? It would be a pleasure and I don"t have a thing in the world to lose! Get us out of here!"
Dorchin"s face went suddenly opaque. He seemed about to move; but the blonde girl he had called Janet slipped between him and the gun.
"Please!" she begged Burckhardt. "You don"t understand. You mustn"t shoot!"
"_Get out of my way!_"
"But, Mr. Burckhardt--"
She never finished. Dorchin, his face unreadable, headed for the door.
Burckhardt had been pushed one degree too far. He swung the gun, bellowing. The girl called out sharply. He pulled the trigger. Closing on him with pity and pleading in her eyes, she came again between the gun and the man.
Burckhardt aimed low instinctively, to cripple, not to kill. But his aim was not good.
The pistol bullet caught her in the pit of the stomach.
Dorchin was out and away, the door slamming behind him, his footsteps racing into the distance.
Burckhardt hurled the gun across the room and jumped to the girl.
Swanson was moaning. "That finishes us, Burckhardt. Oh, why did you do it? We could have got away. We could have gone to the police. We were practically out of here! We--"