Chapter One

A typical night in the Big Apple...

Or is it? For high above the ignorant populace, a strange figure scales the side of a skyscraper.

A figure with crimson-stained fingers...	...and a snake tattoo on its chest.

From his vantage point, the mysterious man in native garb has an excellent view of a certain penthouse apartment, at the top of the tallest building in the city.

He scans the room's occupants through the scope of a high-powered rifle.

He doesn't fire. His target is not one of the five currently occupying the apartment.

Then the doors open, and Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze, enters.

"Something's wrong. What is it?" he asks.

His surprised aides rise nervously, reluctant to deliver the news they know they must.
	Ham breaks the news: Doc's father passed away the previous week in the tiny South American country of Hidalgo, victim of a rare tropical disease.

Clark Savage, Sr.

There's more news. An envelope of papers has just arrived at the skyscraper from Doc's father. It seems he mailed it the day he died. The aides have not opened it since it was addressed to Doc's eyes only. Ham has placed it in the safe.

Doc manipulates the hands of his watch.	The hands on the wall clock match the movements until finally...
As Doc moves to the safe, the would-be assassin finally has his target.
He fires!
Doc's men dive for cover...
...as Doc douses the lights.
Once the dust has settled, Doc retrieves the bullet from where it's embedded in the concrete.	Doc: "750 grains. 577 caliber nitro express." Renny: "An elephant rifle."
While Johnny fruitlessly examines the surrounding buildings, Doc retrieves a piece of equipment from the desk...
	...and bounds upstairs with it.
	From a lookout point Doc uses the device.
Doc: "Registering heat from a gun barrel. Right over there." Monk: "It's the old Eastern Cranmoor Building."
Doc issues orders to his men. He and Renny will take the Whizzer while the rest drive over.
On the way down to the Cord, Johnny comments on how well the refractive glass in the penthouse windows worked, seeing as how they make everything appear five inches to the left of where it actually is.
	Doc and Renny in the Whizzer
	Monk, Ham, Johnny and Long Tom hop in the Cord.
Meanwhile, their prey tries to make good his escape.
Doc throws a rope ladder out and climbs down to the building...
...narrowly avoiding a shot from the strange assassin.
	The rest of the gang finally arrive.
	From their vantage point, they can just make out Doc chasing the native around the outside of the building.
	Monk uses his bulk to crash through a door to gain access to the building.
The native leaps from one level of the building to another.
Doc uses his strength to pry open a freight elevator door...
...and using his jacket to protect his hands, slides down the cables.
Doc's men race up the stairs to help.
Doc confronts the would-be killer on the building ledge.
	He's trapped...out of bullets...
Lightning from an approaching storm flashes...
	The building clock strikes midnight...
And the native stumbles off the edge of the roof!
Inside, Doc's aides hear the man's screams and turn around, heading back to the street.
They rush out to the alley where the man fell.
Doc arrives in moments.
	Monk: "One thing's for sure...he aint no native New Yorker." Ham: "The word is isn't." Monk: "Isn't, ain't, what's the difference?"
	They roll the body over to get a look at their attacker. Johnny: "Well, I'll be superamalgamated. I thought I knew the markings of every tribe on earth, but I've never seen anything like this before."
	Just then, the alarm light on Doc's watch begins to flash. Doc: "There's someone in the penthouse. Johnny, you stay with the body."
Doc: "Do a Barney Oldfield, Long Tom!"

To Chapter Two