The demolished man Read Free Page B

ANARCHISTS...
    ARSONISTS... BRIBERY (PROVEN)... BRIBERY (POTENTIAL)... Under (POTENTIAL) he
    found the names of fifty-seven prominent people. One of them was Augustus Tate,
    Esper Medical Doctor 1. He nodded with satisfaction.
    He tore open the red envelope and examined its contents. It contained five
    sheets of closely written pages in a handwriting that was centuries old. It was
    a message from the founder of Monarch Utilities and the Reich clan. Four of the
    pages were lettered: PLAN A, PLAN B, PLAN C, PLAN D. The fifth was headed
    INTRODUCTION. Reich read the ancient spidery cursive slowly:
        To those who come after me: The test of intellect is the refusal to belabor
        the obvious. If you have opened this letter we understand one another. I
        have prepared four general murder plans which may help you. I bequeath them
        to you as part of your Reich inheritance. They are outlines. The details
        must be filled in by yourself as your time, your environment, and necessity
        require.
        Caution: The essence of murder never changes. In every era it remains the
        conflict of the killer against society with the victim as the prize. And the
        ABC of conflict with society remains constant. Be audacious, be brave, be
        confident and you will not fail. Against these assets society can have no
        defense.
                Geoffry Reich
    Reich leafed through the plans slowly, filled with admiration for the first of
    his line who had had the fore-thought to prepare for every possible emergency.
    The plans were out-dated but they kindled imagination; and ideas began forming
    and crystallizing to be considered, discarded, and instantly replaced. One
    phrase caught his attention:
    If you believe yourself a natural killer, avoid planning too carefully. Leave
    most to your instinct. Intellect may fail you, but the killer instinct is
    invincible.
    "The killer instinct," Reich breathed. "By God, I've got that."
    The phone chimed once and then the automatic switched on. There was a quick
    chatter and tape began to stutter out of the recorder. Reich strode to the desk
    and examined it. The message was short and deadly:
    CODE TO REICH: REPLY WWHG.
    "WWHG. `Offer refused.' Refused! REFUSED! I knew it!" Reich shouted. "All right,
    D'Courtney. If you won't let it be merger, then I'll make it murder."
     
     
     
    2
    Augustus Tate, E.M.D. 1, received Cr. 1,000 per hour of analysis... not a high
    fee considering that a patient rarely required more than an hour of the doctor's
    devastating time; but it placed his income at Cr. 8,000 a day or well over Cr. 2
    million a year. Few people knew what proportion of that income was paid into the
    Esper Guild for the education of other Telepaths and the furthering of the
    Guild's Eugenic plan to bring Extra Sensory Perception to everyone in the world.
     
    Augustus Tate knew, and the 95% he paid was a sore point with him. Consequently,
    he belonged to "The League of Esper Patriots," an extreme right-wing political
    group within the Guild, dedicated to the preservation of the autocracy and
    incomes of the upper grade Espers. It was this membership that placed him in Ben
    Reich's BRIBERY (POTENTIAL) category. Reich marched into Tate's exquisite
    consultation room, glanced once at Tate's tiny frame---a figure slightly out of
    proportion but carefully realigned by tailors. Reich sat down and grunted: "Peep
    me quick."
    He glared in concentration at Tate while the elegant little peeper examined him
    with a glittering eye and spoke in quick bursts: "You're Ben Reich of Monarch.
    Ten billion credit firm. Think I should know you. I do. You're involved in a
    death struggle with the D'Courtney Cartel. Right? You're savagely hostile toward
    D'Courtney. Right? Offered merger this morning. Coded message: YYJI TTED RRCB
    UUFE AALK QQBA. Offer refused. Right? In desperation you have resolved to---"
    Tate broke off abruptly.
    "Go ahead," Reich said.
    "To