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Bigh voice firm, "Don&039;t let&039;s draw any quick conclusions now Itme, but he hasn&039;t said so yet"

They watched hiht it by the muzzle, and tossed it onto the table where it skier "I say I&039;m not the man, and there&039;s er&039;s sers reached for it

"I also say you&039;re not the man pounced upon it, shoved it back in his holster, and sat down once er"

The Space Ranger said, "It man, but there are many reasons why it could not have been In the first place, the en before Williams appeared on the scene"

Dr Silvers protested "But look here If the leader was pretending to be on the outs with Hennes, it ht have been a long-standing scheer said, "Your point is well taken, Dr Silvers But consider this The leader, whoever he is, &039;s tactics Heupon a group of what are probably the most desperate outlaws in the systeing it so that they cannot possibly continue without hi the supply of poison and the man could do neither"

"How do you know that?" de that would enable him to develop and produce a new poison more virulent than any known He doesn&039;t have the laboratory or the botanical and bacteriological training He doesn&039;t have access to the food bins at Wingrad City All of which, however, does apply to Benson"

The agrono profusely, raised his voice in a weak yell "What are you trying to do? Test er "I never accused him I do accuse you, Benson You are the brains and leader of the food-poisoning combine"

"No You&039;re mad"

"Not at all Quite sane Williams first suspected you and passed his suspicions on to me"

"He had no reason to I was perfectly frank with hi hi upon farronomist, 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 thatelse about you suspect It made Williams wonder if perhaps you had yourself made an extract of Martian bacteria The extract would be poisonous Don&039;t you think so?"

Benson cried wildly, "But how could I possibly spread the poison? You don&039;t make sense"

"You had access to the Makian fare to obtain sae bins at the city You told Williams how you carefully took sale 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 froet into the one place in the farm dome which is consistently kept locked-your laboratory There I found this" He held the sht

Dr Silvers said, "What is it, Space Ranger?"

"It is Benson&039;s sample taker It fits at the end of his food harpoon Observe hoorks"

The Space Ranger adjusted a s the harpoon" he said, "trips this safety catch So! Noatch"

There was the faintest buzzing noise It ended after five seconds, and the fore end of the saaped open, remained so for a second, then closed

"That&039;s the way it&039;s supposed to work," cried Benson "I made no secret of it"

"No, you didn&039;t," said the Space Ranger sternly "You and Hennes had been quarreling for days over Williams You hadn&039;t the stoht the harpoon with you to Williaht of it would surprise hiive hier, anyway Zukis was sent in to kill hi with the sas 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 Hennes Makian was on his feet, leathery cheeks flushed

Once again the saain the little mouth flew open, and this ti sliver ofa shallow depression that glistened guer, "you can see what happened Each tirains of wheat, a piece of fruit, a leaf of lettuce was sum, 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&039;s all a lie, a rotten lie!"

"Big the man Stand near him and don&039;t let him move"

"Really," protested Dr Silvers, "you&039;re er, but you must let the man defend hier, "and proof that will satisfy even you will be forthcoled and then sat in sweating stillness as the butt of Bigman&039;s blaster collided noisily with his skull

"The next tih 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 co serence and loud assertion of his own opinions Thehere on Mars ae far, 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 set a confession out of him would be difficult; perhaps impossible However, Here 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 s"

Hennes sneered "I could tell you nothing, and I will tell you nothing If you shoot Benson and ht now, matters will proceed exactly as they would if ere alive So do your worst"

"Would you talk," said the Space Ranger, "if we guaranteed your personal safety?"

"Who would believe in your guarantee?" said Hennes "I&039;ll stick tous will do you no good"

"You realize that if you refuse to talk, millions of ed

"Very well," said the Space Ranger "I have been told so 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 victiulation stretched over five minutes Of course that is when the poison has been introduced into the stoer, as he spoke, drew frolass pellet He opened the salitter 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 radually Makian," he called suddenly, "there&039;s theof men and the ruin of the farm syndicates Grab his arer tossed a pinion upon the table

Makian, with a cry of long-pent rage, threw himself on Hennes For a th of his youth and Hennes struggled in vain against him

When Makian stepped away, Hennes was strapped to his chair, his arms drawn painfully behind and around its back, his wrists pinioned tightly

Makian said between rasping pants, "After you talk, It will be ers"