"I believe that I have done all that is necessary," said the Doctor
after a few minutes--"and I think the patient will be more comfortable
now." Then, with a sardonic gleam in his eye, he added, "Also, I have
enjoyed our conversation very much!"
He walked to the sink where he washed his hands and dried them carefully
on a clean towel.
"And so, if you young people are quite ready, we'll adjourn for that
voting contest I mentioned a little while ago."
He motioned them to precede him, and brought up the rear with his bag as
Dorothy helped Bill limp into the front room.
Politely, the Doctor placed chairs for them and bade them be seated.
Never once had this black-eyed little man's manner betokened anything
but courteous consideration. But his suavity troubled Dorothy far more
than bluster would have done. She sensed the venom behind his smooth
tones, the purring growl of the tiger before it springs.
Dorothy knew she was losing her nerve. But she looked at Bill and smiled
bravely as they sat down.
Bill smiled back at her then shifted his glance with hers to the table,
where the members of the gang were seated. The little Doctor headed the
board, the others at the side facing the room. Next to the lame man sat
the red-haired girl; then came Mike, Tony, who was nursing his jaw,
Johnny, the man who had fetched the wheelbarrow, and another whom
Dorothy had not seen before. Tony, she fancied, had played the part of
chauffeur at the bank.
Then Bill broke into the low-voiced conversation that was going on at
the table.
"How about unlocking these handcuffs, Doctor?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, my young friend. Even with your
honorable wounds of combat, you are far too active for us to take any
chances."
"But what could I do? You are six to one, counting Miss Martinelli--and
all armed," insisted Bill. "These things are darned uncomfortable."
Tony shot him a deadly glance. "I'm glad to hear it," he muttered
through clenched teeth. "You'll be a lot more uncomfortable by the time
I finish with you."
"Shut up, you two!" snapped Sadie. "Now, Dad," she went on in a
different tone, addressing the Doctor, "let's finish this business. We
can't sit here gabbing all night."
"That's what I say!" This from Johnny. "Bump off the pair of 'em--they
know too much. Then we can divvy up and be on our way!"
"You forget that it is our custom to put such matters to vote,"
interposed the Doctor. "Two of our company are upstairs and unable to
attend. Also, another member is expected at any time now. Without his
help our little _coup_ would have been extremely difficult."
"Chuck and Pete are too ill to vote," argued Miss Martinelli. "As for
Perkins--that sap is scared to death! I doubt if he shows up at all."
"Oh, he wants his share," declared the Doctor. "He'll come. We shall
give him five minutes--and then continue our business."
He tapped a cigarette on the back of his gold case, struck a match and
lounged back in his chair, inhaling the aromatic smoke with evident
enjoyment.
Dorothy's eyes met Bill's in astonishment.
He smiled but said nothing.
It was interesting enough that Sadie should turn out to be the Doctor's
daughter. But the news that Harry Perkins, her father's trusted
lieutenant at the bank, was mixed up in this robbery was simply
dumfounding to Dorothy. That was how things had been made easy for the
gang--that was how they knew just when Mrs. Hamberfield's necklace would
be in her deposit box. And another thing--Perkins' home was on the
Marvin Ridge Road, just beyond the Mayo place where the Pen and Pencil
Club were to meet! The Doctor had been coming from the Perkins' house
when she and Billy had met his car. And that explained the absence of
road oil on the Packard's tires!
Johnny's voice interrupted her train of thought.
"How are we goin' to make our getaway tonight with them two lads down
and out upstairs?" he grumbled. "Our plan was to separate after we'd
divvied up the loot--but them fellers can't be moved."
"Supposing you stay and look after them--" derided Sadie. "When we've
made the divvy, as you call it, this bunch breaks up for the time being.
We all go our own sweet ways. It's a case of each for himself. If you
want to stick here and nurse those boobs upstairs, nobody's going to
stop you."
"Not me! I don't know nothin' about--"
"Then keep your mouth shut. Whatever we do, we'll decide later on. How
about the time, Dad?"
"Time's up," decided the Doctor with a glance at his watch. "We'll wait
no longer for Mr. Perkins. Now, concerning our two young friends who
were so unwise as to join us tonight--what is your pleasure?"
"Bump them off, of course, as Johnny so prettily puts it," yawned Sadie
languidly. "I'll attend to the job, if the rest of you are squeamish."
"We will put it to vote," announced the Doctor. "Those in favor will
raise their right hands and say 'aye'."
Five hands, including his own, sprang into the air.
"Contraries, 'no'."
"_No_," said Mike in a firm voice, holding up his right hand.
"The ayes have it," declared the Doctor dispassionately.
"What's the matter with you, Mike?" sneered Sadie. "Got a crush on the
girl?"
"No," retorted Mike. "Just trying to stop you from making an even bigger
fool of yourself than you are usually!"
"I'm afraid you'll have to pipe down, Mike." The Doctor's eyes gleamed
balefully. "Sentence has been passed on Miss Dixon and Mr. Bolton--and
that is all there is to it."
"That's where you're dead wrong."
"What do you mean? Don't you realize that these two know too much about
us to permit them to live?"
"Have I said they didn't? But Sadie should not be allowed to be their
executioner."
"Oh--aren't you considerate!" Sadie's tone was pregnant with sarcasm.
"Want the job yourself?"
"Not particularly--none of us should do it."
"Who then, may I ask?"
"Why, Perkins, of course."
"You're crazy! He hasn't the nerve."
"Maybe not--make him do it anyway."
It was the lame man's turn to take a hand. "And why should Mr. Harry
Perkins be so entrusted?"
"To keep his mouth shut."
"I'm afraid I don't understand you."
"And I didn't think you could be so dense. Look here, Doctor. I haven't
been one of your crowd long, but I'd never have joined up at all if I'd
known I was getting in with such a bunch of nitwits!"
"You are forgetting yourself, I think," the Doctor's tone was cutting.
"No. I ain't. Listen--Perkins only came into this because he was up
against it proper. How you found out he had speculated, first with his
own money and then with the bank's, is none of my affair. What I do know
is that when Wall Street put him into a tight place, you put up the
extra margin with his brokers upon an assurance from him that he would
do--just what he's done!"
"You are very well informed, Mike. And what then?"
"Just this: the bank has been robbed, but it was a crude job at best.
Why the bulls haven't fastened on Perkins already on account of that
time-lock business, is beyond me. Then, for once in your long and
successful career, you were careless, Doctor. You allowed your paternal
feeling to out-weigh your natural caution. The result is that the cops
got Sadie's fingerprints and a description of you, of her and of Tony. I
am simply bringing all this up to show you that we are not out of the
mess yet--not by a long shot."
"In other words, you think we have a fifty-fifty chance with the
police?"
"Better than that, perhaps. I think, though, that if we do get nailed,
we should stop Perkins from blabbing--and stop him effectually."
"I see," said Sadie. "Let him bump off the pair over there--then take
him for a ride?"
"Be still, carissima!" Doctor Martinelli was interested. "I see what
Mike is driving at. He fears that if things should by chance go wrongly,
Harry Perkins would try to save his precious skin by turning state's
evidence. And that if he were forced to--er--place these two young
people where they will do the least harm, Mr. Perkins will not be in a
position himself to turn state's evidence--that is, of course, should it
become necessary. That is your reason for not voting with the rest of
us?"
"It is, Doctor. Do you wish to vote on it again?"
"Not necessarily. I consider your plan adequate."
"But why make the biggest mistake--of murdering us?" Bill entered the
conversation.
Dorothy leaned toward him. "It's no use, Bill," she whispered steadily.
"They've made up their minds--and you heard what the Doctor said in the
other room!"
Bill did not attempt to reply, for Doctor Martinelli was speaking again.
"And why, in your opinion, are we making a mistake in putting you and
Miss Dixon out of the running?" he inquired affably. "Take your time,
young man, answer carefully. We are in no hurry--until Mr. Harry Perkins
arrives."
"He won't arrive," rejoined Bill. "The authorities have got him by this
time."
"Bluff!" shot out Sadie and turned fiercely on her father. "What's the
use of all this?" she cried. "It makes me sick. Why do you stand for
it?"
"Because he knows Bill _isn't_ bluffing!" Dorothy's raised voice
silenced the woman. "We knew that you had been visiting Harry Perkins
this evening, Doctor. And we passed word to the police on our way
through New Canaan. The only reason you weren't arrested on the way up
is because they want to catch the whole gang together. If you hadn't
shown up here, the rest of your people might have got wise and left
before the police could make arrangements to surround the place."
"But, you see, my dear," said the Doctor, "I wasn't visiting Mr. Perkins
this evening. I had just motored up from the Post Road, and--ah--points
east, when I ran into you and your friend Bill."
Dorothy laughed. "Oh, no, you hadn't, Doctor. The road beyond Perkins'
place was freshly oiled. There was no sign of oil on your car."
"She got you that time, Doc!" exclaimed Mike. "D'you mind saying why you
were foolish enough to drop in on Perkins and put us up a tree this
way?"
Doctor Martinelli was irritated. "Because the safest place to park that
loot was in Perkins' house," he snapped, "and as he refused to bring it
up here himself, I had to fetch it."
"Then all I can say is that you and Sadie have made a pretty mess of
things."
"Is that so?" retorted the red-haired young woman. "Was it _my_ fault
that that fellow over there landed his plane on the lake? That was
before the New Canaan deal. He had nothing at all to go on then!"
"That's where you're wrong," broke in Bill. "Your hair and those beach
pajamas make a combination not easily forgotten. You wore them once too
often, Miss Martinelli."
"And you seem to forget," added Dorothy, "that you've been
finger-printed both in this country and in England. The police know all
about you and your father and Tony. They probably have the records of
the rest of your gang. If anything happens to Bill or myself, you are
bound to pay the penalty."
"Say, Doc!" Johnny's excited voice sounded shrilly, "I don't like
this--not a little bit I don't. Tie up that pair and let's vamoose. Them
cops is likely to be here any minute. I'm tired of all this fool talk.
Come on--this place is gettin' too hot fer me!"
Mike got to his feet. "I don't stir from this place until I get my share
of the divvy," he declared firmly. "What's the matter with you, Johnny?
If Doc lights out with the bag full of kale, it ain't likely the rest of
us will ever get what's coming to us."
"But I can't afford to get pinched--" Johnny faltered. "Not after that
Jersey City job, I can't. It means the hot seat for me." The gangster
shivered and moistened his lips.
"It is my candid opinion that you are all exciting yourselves
unnecessarily." The Doctor's voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever. "Miss
Dixon and Mr. Bolton are clever young people--but not quite clever
enough. They're throwing a gigantic bluff to save their lives. The
police won't be here tonight. Why? Simply because if they knew anything
about this house, we would have been raided long before this. Those two
haven't told the police or anyone else a thing about it. They wanted to
pull off their job all by themselves!"
"And how, may I ask, do you figure that?" Bill endeavored to make his
tone sarcastic.
"For this reason: if you had reported what you had learned--and
guessed--the authorities would never have permitted you to come here
tonight. And this proves it!"
There was a light step on the porch and Harry Perkins came in through
the open door.
_Chapter XVI_