The place was a curio room, filled with huge vases, squatty taborets and pieces of Oriental statuary. Centrally located were the golden screens that Brockthorpe had gained from the Forbidden Temple in Peking.
Each screen was six feet tall. It consisted of three folding panels, two feet in width. The panels were of thin, dull gold; upon each panel, glistening in bas-relief, was a polished dragon of the same precious metal.
As the guests strolled about, Brockthorpe rumbled the history of the screens. He also stated their value: one hundred thousand dollars each and added that as a pair they would bring a quarter million should he choose to offer them for sale.
There was one person present, however, who was more interested in the strongroom than in the screens. This was Detective Joe Cardona; he was examining the windows, one on each side of the room, which formed an extension of the house.
Each window was furnished with horizontal bars. These were five in number. They were three feet long; the space between them was less than one foot. The bars were made of heavy steel. Cardona nodded as he tested their strength. He tapped steel shutters that were closed outside the bars.
“Set with an electric alarm,” explained Brockthorpe. “If any one tries to pry the shutters loose, bells will ring throughout the house. That would give us plenty of time before any one could saw away at the bars.”
“It looks good,” admitted Cardona.
“All my treasures are bulky,” declared Brockthorpe, pointing about the room. “Look at the size of those vases — those taborets — those golden screens. Burglars would have to saw off all the bars before they could remove anything.”
“The door?”
“When I lock it, the alarm sets automatically. I haven’t been using it while I am at home, because it would ring whenever I opened the door. But from now on, I shall set it on the door as well as the windows.”
Tyrell was drawing a cigarette case from his pocket. Turning, he saw Lamont Cranston talking with Doris Munson. He nodded affably as he approached. He extended the cigarette case.
“Smoke, Doris?” inquired Tyrell.
“Yes,” replied the girl.
Tyrell drew a cigarette from the case and let Doris take it. He offered another cigarette to Cranston; the globetrotter drew one forth himself. Tyrell extracted a third cigarette. He flicked a lighter and extended it toward Doris.
As he turned toward Cranston with the light, Tyrell saw that the hawkfaced guest was using a match of his own. Tyrell caught the burning glare of eyes above the aquiline nose. He turned away as he lighted his own cigarette. As he flicked out the flame of the lighter, Tyrell heard Doris begin a new conversation with Cranston. Tyrell strolled away.
He encountered Harry Vincent near the door. He nodded; then spoke in an undertone. He was giving instructions which Harry had expected but had not yet received.
“Do what I tell you,” whispered Tyrell. “Stay at this spot until I give the word—”
A gasp sounded in the room. Doris Munson’s cigarette had dropped from her fingers. The girl had placed her hand to her forehead. She was dropping toward the floor. Lamont Cranston caught her elbows and steadied her.
“Stand back,” he ordered quietly. “The girl has fainted. This room is stuffy. Don’t crowd close.”
As guests drew away, Mark Tyrell swung to the doorway. Chopper Hoban was standing at the portal. Tyrell snapped an order to the fake servant.
“Some water!” he exclaimed. “Bring it at once!”
Chopper nodded. He turned and passed the word along to another servant who was at the front door of the library.
“Hurry some water!” he bawled. “Somebody has fainted!”
TYRELL was gripping Harry Vincent by the arm. The two men were nearest to the door. Tyrell pointed toward the library and gave another order.
“Bring a chair!” he told Harry. “From the other room — that servant will help you carry it.”
As Harry turned to obey, Tyrell sprang to aid Cranston who was supporting Doris. Cranston was about to carry the girl from the strongroom; Tyrell, in offering aid, held back the action. As he pretended to help, he stamped out the cigarette that Doris had dropped to the floor.
Just outside the door of the strongroom, Harry Vincent found Chopper Hoban beckoning. He did not know that the servant was one of Tyrell’s underlings. However, Chopper was lifting one arm of a heavy covered chair that stood by the door. Tyrell had ordered a chair; Harry gripped the other arm.
The two carried their burden into the strongroom. A servant arrived a moment later with a glass of water. Cranston, at Tyrell’s suggestion, eased the unconscious girl into the big chair as Harry and Chopper set it near a taboret. He took the glass of water and placed it to Doris Munson’s lips.
Rudolph Brockthorpe was urging the guests out of the room. He herded them through the door like a lot of sheep. Harry and Chopper followed with the throng. Tyrell remained by Cranston, while Brockthorpe and Cardona stood in front of the golden screens.
Reaching in his vest pocket, Cranston produced a tiny phial. He poured a purplish liquid into the glass of water. As a faint color permeated the water. Cranston made Doris take another sip. A moment later, the girl’s eyes opened.
“What — what has happened?” questioned Doris, weakly. “I–I am faint—”
Cranston gave her another sip. The girl revived more rapidly. It was Tyrell who made the next suggestion.
“Let’s get her out into the air,” he said.
Cranston nodded. He carried the glass of liquid in one hand while he and Tyrell aided the girl into the library. They continued on to the living room; by the time they had reached the door, Doris was walking of her own accord.
“I shall take care of her,” stated Cranston. “I shall take her to the porch. Open air will end her dizziness.”
Tyrell watched Cranston and Doris walk away. He drew another cigarette from his case and lighted it. While he stood with a thoughtful smile upon his lips, Rudolph Brockthorpe and Joe Cardona entered from the library.
“We will go back to the strongroom later,” Brockthorpe was saying. “Really, Cardona, it was quite unnecessary to set the alarm on the door. When I unlock it, the bells will ring—”
“I want to hear them work,” interposed Cardona. “You can turn off the bells, can’t you?”
“Of course.”
Hubert Bexler had joined the host and the detective. Brockthorpe was explaining that they would go back to the strongroom within an hour. He was telling Bexler that Joe Cardona had approved the place as burglar proof.
Mark Tyrell smiled as he strolled away. He chatted in a pleasant fashion with the guests that he encountered. So far as his second crime was concerned, Tyrell was satisfied. The schemer’s plan for theft had again succeeded, despite the presence of The Shadow!
CHAPTER VIII
THE AFTERMATH
“THIS way, every one! We are going back too view the screens again!”
Rudolph Brockthorpe was calling to his guests. They were gathering in the living room; Mark Tyrell was accompanying Doris Munson and Lamont Cranston. As the group moved toward the library, Tyrell dropped behind to light his inevitable cigarette. He paused close by Chopper, who was waiting for the guests to complete their passage into the library.
“How about it?” questioned Tyrell, in an undertone.
“Slug pulled out half an hour ago,” whispered Chopper.
“From the side alley?”
“Yeah. With the swag.”
“Good. Be ready.”
Tyrell entered the library. He found the guests in a semicircle, watching Brockthorpe, who was standing by the door of the strongroom.
“There will be a loud clangor when I unlock this door,” explained Brockthorpe to his guests. “Detective Cardona wanted me to test the alarm; so I set it. Remain here while I enter. I can turn off the alarm from inside the strongroom.”