The Case of the Grinning Gorilla

They sat in spellbound silence while the oblong of light framed the massive body of the huge gorilla. The animal stretched forth a long, groping arm, then made a leap for the branches of a shade tree. A moment later he was slithering down the shade tree, and, within a matter of seconds after that, floodlights blazed on all over the yard, sirens began to scream a warning, and the barking dogs reached a crescendo of excitement.

“Now what?” Della Street asked.

“Evidently our gorilla slid down to the ground,” Mason said, “and crossed a beam of invisible light. He’s set in motion an electrical apparatus which turns on floodlights all over the place, starts sirens going and releases the police dogs. Now we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

He sat watching for a second or two, then suddenly put the car into gear.

Della looked at him in surprise. “Chief, you’re not going to try to get to the house now?”

He nodded.

“Hadn’t we better wait and see what developments are?”

“Perhaps we’d better get there before some of these developments take place,” Mason said.

He spun the car into Rose Street.

The high, wire fence, with the barbed-wire Y at the top, angled back from the road, leaving a cemented parking place in front of a row of garages. A two-story building sat back some twenty feet from the road, leaving ample space for parking and turning automobiles.

On the door of this two-story building the numbers 546 were plainly legible.

Mason stopped the car in front of the door, jumped out and pushed his finger against a bell button.

He could hear the sound of an electric bell in the interior, but waited in vain for any indication that anyone had heard the summons.

“Chief,” Della Street said apprehensively, “she said she’d meet us here. If she doesn’t... well, that’s all there is to it. We can call the police, or...”

Mason shook his head and pressed the bell button again. “Something’s happened,” he said, “something that upset her plans. At least one of those big gorillas is loose.”

“Chief, they could tear you in two. The way that big animal loomed against the oblong of light and then jumped out into space to grab the tree limb...”

She broke off, shuddering.

“I know,” Mason said. “It gives you the creeps, but there’s something definitely wrong here. Mrs. Kempton had real panic in her voice.”

“Well, apparently no one’s going to answer the bell. She must have gone somewhere.”

Mason tried the door.

“It’s unlocked,” he said.

“Chief, don’t.”

“You wait in the car,” Mason told her. “If I’m not back here in five minutes, drive to the nearest telephone and notify the police.”

“No, no. I’m going with you. I...”

“You wait in the car,” Mason told her. “You have five minutes...”

“Chief, I’m going in there with you.”

“You can’t help any. You can’t do a thing.”

“Perhaps not, but it would be a lot better than sitting out here in the car wait...”

“No,” Mason interrupted. “You’re going to wait in the car. At the end of five minutes call the police. If I’m not out in five minutes don’t wait for me, don’t hesitate. Just drive that car to the nearest telephone and get the police.”

“If you’re not back in five minutes it wouldn’t do any good to call the Army,” she said. “You know it and I know it.”

“You wait in the car,” Mason told her.

“You’re just trying to keep me out of danger,” she protested.

“That’s an order,” Mason told her, and, opening the door, he went inside, slamming it shut behind him. There was a bolt on the inside of the door and he slid it into place, just in case Della Street should decide to ignore his instructions and try to follow him.

Here the peculiar, fetid smell of animal occupancy was accentuated. It was as though he had stepped into a zoo.

He walked down a short corridor toward an open door and entered an office equipped with desks, filing cabinets and typewriters. There were a dozen or so graphs on the wall.

Mason crossed this office, opened a door and found himself in a long, concrete corridor, on one side of which was a long row of cages.

In these cages were gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys, all apparently in a state of great excitement.

Every light in the place seemed to be on and the whole corridor was flooded with brilliance.

Far down at the end of the corridor he saw that two of the big iron gates were swung open.

Hesitating for a long instant, he then walked down the corridor, keeping his steps as uniform as possible, his eyes straight ahead, trying above all else not to show any fear.

Monkeys chattered at him in shrill excitement. A gorilla clapped his hands as the lawyer walked by. The explosive sound was like that of a machine gun ripping into action.

With effort, Mason continued to walk steadily, controlling every outward manifestation of his nerves.