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"He had no reason to. I was perfectly frank with him."
"Too frank. You made the mistake of telling him that it was your opinion that Martian bacteria growing upon farm products were the source of the poison. As an agronomist, you must have known that was impossible. Martian life is not protein in nature and could no more feed on Earth plants than we could feed on rocks. So you told a deliberate lie, and that made everything else about you suspect. It made Williams wonder if perhaps you had yourself made an extract of Martian bacteria. The extract would be poisonous. Don't you think so?"
Benson cried wildly, "But how could I possibly spread the poison? You don't make sense."
"You had access to the Makian farm shipments. After the first few poisonings you could arrange to obtain samples from the storage bins at the city. You told Williams how you carefully took samples from different bins, from different levels of a single bin. You told him how you used a harpoon-like affair you invented yourself."
"But what is there wrong with that?"
"A good deal. Last night I obtained keys from He
Dr. Silvers said, "What is it, Space Ranger?"
"It is Benson's sample taker. It fits at the end of his food harpoon. Observe how it works."
The Space Ranger adjusted a small knob at one end. "Firing the harpoon." he said, "trips this safety catch. So! Now watch."
There was the faintest buzzing noise. It ended after five seconds, and the fore end of the sampler gaped open, remained so for a second, then closed.
"That's the way it's supposed to work," cried Benson. "I made no secret of it."
"No, you didn't," said the Space Ranger sternly. "You and He
"But what's wrong with the sampler?" demanded Benson.
"Let me show its workings again. But this time, Dr. Silvers, please observe the side of the sampler toward yourself now."
Dr. Silvers leaned across the table, watching closely. Bigman, blaster out once more, divided his attention between Benson and He
Once again the sampler was set, once again the little mouth flew open, and this time, as they watched the neutral side indicated, a covering sliver of metal withdrew there as well, revealing a shallow depression that glistened gummily.
"There," said the Space Ranger, "you can see what happened. Each time Benson took a sample, a few grains of wheat, a piece of fruit, a leaf of lettuce was smeared with that colorless gum, a poisonous extract of Martian bacteria. It is a simple poison, no doubt, that is not affected by subsequent food processing and eventually turns up in a loaf of bread, a jar of jam, a can of baby food. It was a clever and diabolical trick."
Benson was beating on the table. "It's all a lie, a rotten lie!"
"Bigman," said the Space Ranger, "gag the man. Stand near him and don't let him move."
"Really," protested Dr. Silvers, "you're making a case, Space Ranger, but you must let the man defend himself."
"There is no time," said the Space Ranger, "and proof that will satisfy even you will be forthcoming quickly."
Bigman used his handkerchief as a gag. Benson struggled and then sat in sweating stillness as the butt of Bigman's blaster collided noisily with his skull.
"The next time," said Bigman, "it will be hard enough to knock you out; maybe fix you up with a concussion."
The Space Ranger rose. "You all suspected, or pretended to suspect, Bigman when I spoke of a man with an inferiority complex because he was small. There are more ways of being small than in size. Bigman compensates for his size by belligerence and loud assertion of his own opinions. The men here respect him because of this. Benson, however, living here on Mars among men of action finds himself despised as a 'college farmer,' ignored as a weakling, and looked down upon by men whom he considers much his inferiors. To be unable to compensate for this except by murder of the most cowardly sort is another and worse kind of smallness.
"But Benson is mentally sick. To get a confession out of him would be difficult; perhaps impossible. However, Hermes would do almost as well as a source of knowledge about the future activities of the poisoners. He could tell us exactly where in the Asteroids we could find his various henchmen. He could tell us where the supply of poison, for use at midnight tonight, is kept. He could tell us many things."
He
"Would you talk," said the Space Ranger, "if we guaranteed your personal safety?"
"Who would believe in your guarantee?" said He
"You realize that if you refuse to talk, millions of men, women, and children may die."
He
"Very well," said the Space Ranger. "I have been told something about the effects of the Martian poison Benson has developed. Once in the stomach, absorption is very quick; the nerves to the chest muscles are paralyzed; the victim can't breathe. It is painful strangulation stretched over five minutes. Of course that is when the poison has been introduced into the stomach."
The Space Ranger, as he spoke, drew from Ms pocket a small glass pellet. He opened the sampler and drew it across the gummed surface until the glitter of the glass had been obscured by a sticky coating.
"Now if," he said, "the poison were placed just within the lips, matters would be different. It would be absorbed much more slowly and would take effect much more gradually. Makian," he called suddenly, "there's the man who betrayed you, used your farm to organize the poisoning of men and the ruin of the farm syndicates. Grab his arms and pinion them."
The Space Ranger tossed a pinion upon the table.
Makian, with a cry of long-pent rage, threw himself on He
When Makian stepped away, He
Makian said between rasping pants, "After you talk, It will be my pleasure to take you apart with my ten fingers."
The Space Ranger circled the table now, approach-Ing He
The Space Ranger pinched He
The Space Ranger dropped the pellet in the space between lip and teeth.
"I believe it will take about ten minutes before you absorb enough poison through the mouth membranes to begin taking noticeable effect," said the Space Ranger. "If you agree to talk before then, we will remove the pellet and let you rinse your mouth. Otherwise, the poison will take effect slowly. Gradually it will become more and more difficult and painful to breathe, and finally, in about an hour, you will die of very slow strangulation. And if you do die, you will have accomplished nothing, because the demonstration will be very educational for Benson and we will proceed to sweat the truth out of him."