Then Remo was on him, dragging him back into the street, shoving him to the ground, his fingers wound around Bauer's thick, corded neck.
"Don't," Bauer gurgled. "It isn't—"
"Where's Quantril?"
Spittle oozed out of the comers of Bauer's mouth. "The saloon." His bulging eyes looked at Remo expectantly, but the pressure around his neck did not lessen. "Be fair," he pleaded. "Remember…"
"I do," Remo said softly. "That's the trouble." His fingertips met.
"Chiun?" Remo whispered. There was no answer.
Leaving Bauer's body on the street, he walked the block to the Bayersville saloon. As he neared it, he heard tinkling music from the player piano and the sound of voices.
The saloon was lit with colored gaslights. Remo stopped short in the doorway for a moment, because the place seemed to be filled with people. Voluptuous girls, their hair piled on their heads, their long dresses lifted to the ankle to reveal high-button shoes, danced with bearded, burly men in antique suits. But he saw quickly that the people were only images projected on the saloon's walls. The place was empty except for one man seated alone at a table near the stairway in the back.
"Quantril?" Remo said, approaching him.
The man nodded elegantly. "I really never thought you'd get this far," he said. "You're quite a remarkable man."
"Where's Chiun?"
"Who? Oh, your Oriental friend. He's fine."
"I didn't ask how he is. I want to know where."
Quantril ignored him. He spread his arms in a gesture encompassing the room. "How do you like my town, Mr. Williams?"
"I can think of places I'd rather be."
"The saloon is one of Dream Date's most popular fantasy settings."
"Dream Date's history, Quantril."
"Nonsense."
"There's a matter of a couple of hundred women you kept as prisoners against their will."
Quantril shook his head like an indulgent father addressing a child. "That can't be linked to me. It was Deke Bauer's operation. He's dead, I presume."
"That's right."
"Excellent. You spared me the bother."
"You booby-trapped your own building."
"That's what you say. But from the evidence, it looks like you and your ancient friend broke in, killed three security guards, and then set the penthouse on fire, destroying all my records. They were in the computer." He burst into laughter. "If the police want anyone, it'll be you."
Remo exhaled noisily. Quantril was exactly the kind of criminal CURE had been devised to stop. The law couldn't touch him. Remo could. But not until he had found Chiun.
"What about the guy who led us here? You left him for dead. Do you think he won't talk?"
"Wally Donner? Don't make me laugh. He's got a criminal record a mile long. A psychopathic killer. The minute he shows his face, he'll be escorted to a psychiatric ward."
"Wally Donner, is it?" Remo brightened. At least he had a name now. But he'd have to try a bluff.
He shrugged. "Well, it looks like you've got the rap beaten, Quantril. Nobody'll arrest you."
"Thank you."
"Because I'm going to kill you first."
"Not so fast," Quantril said, smiling. "There's one small matter. You see, through the years I've made a sort of hobby of explosives. Keeps my fingers busy. This is one of the places I practiced on."
Remo felt his skin tightening.
"In fact, I've rigged the entire town of Bayersville to blow up like a rocket in…" He checked his watch. "Sixty seconds."
"I don't think so," Remo said. "You don't look like the suicidal type."
"Oh, I'm not planning to die. It would ruin my plans for the future. You only interrupted them. You haven't really changed a thing."
Remo could hear his internal clock ticking away the seconds. "Where's Chiun?" he demanded.
"I'll give him to you. All I ask of you in return is a head start."
"What about this so-called bomb?"
"I'll deactivate it as soon as you say yes."
Remo thought about it. "You're lying," he said.
"Eleven seconds, Mr. Williams. Ten. Nine. Eight…"
He couldn't take the chance. "All right."
"A wise decision," Quantril said. He took a key from his pocket, inserted it in a small box in the wall by the stairway, and turned it. The projected images faded from the walls. The tinkling music stopped. Quantril climbed the stairs.
"How about your part of the deal?" Remo called.
"Behold," Quantril said from the darkness of the stairway. A panel in the far wall slid open to reveal the old Oriental, gagged and tied to a chair.
"Chiun!"
Above, a helicopter whirred to life.
The Korean burst out of his bonds in a frenzy. "Fool! You let him go!"