It was Donald Shiloh; behind him, his solemn-faced valet, Jeffrey. The latter stooped to pick up the revolvers that Lundig’s men had dropped.
Theresa Doyd smiled as she gave a happy gasp. This time, the girl was sure, rescue would prove complete.
CHAPTER XXII. AN OLD FRIEND
“BEFORE you talk further, Lundig,” remarked Shiloh, with a confident smile, “I shall detail the circumstances that brought about my fortunate arrival. That’s right, Jeffrey” — he nodded approvingly, as the valet covered Norris and Woodling with their own guns — “keep those scoundrels where they belong.
“As I was saying, good fortune favored me. Good fortune and Wilfred. It appears, Theresa, that after I left the house, Mark Lundig arrived and left; then you started out.”
The girl nodded.
“Next,” laughed Shiloh, “Egbert left quite suddenly. Wilfred happened to hear him talking over the telephone. He heard Egbert mention this address. Wilfred knew that this house belonged to the estate, so he called Mr. Clavelock. Receiving no answer, he called me. He tried three times before I arrived home; when I heard what had happened, I came here at once, bringing Jeffrey.”
“Egbert called me,” put in Clavelock. “We both wondered what had happened, so we came here together.”
“And found the treasure.” Shiloh nodded approvingly, as he looked in from the doorway. “Apparently, you were a bit put out over the fact, Lundig.”
Mark Lundig glowered as he met Shiloh’s stare. Then, in an argumentative tone, he inquired:
“Do you mind hearing what I know about it?”
“We should be glad to hear your story,” returned Shiloh. “First, however, you might introduce these playmates of yours who like to handle revolvers. What are they? Thugs?”
“They’re detectives,” answered Lundig. “Norris and Woodling. I hired them to search for the missing scroll. I used to call them from the house; once in a while, Norris sent me messages there.”
“Signed with the letter N?” queried Shiloh.
“Yes,” returned Lundig. “They were trying to locate Montague Rayne. I thought he might be in the game.
They found that he had been in New York — that he had been living at the Torrington. But that was all they learned.”
Lundig paused. He licked his lips and looked about at the others. Then he spoke again; it was apparent that he hoped to make his statement convincing.
“SOMETHING odd occurred a few days ago,” Lundig stated. “I left my hotel, the Soulette, and came to your house, Egbert. A message was there for me — Theresa had it in an envelope — and it appeared to be from Norris. He wanted to see me in an office at the Daxler Building. I went there.
“Instead of Norris, I found two men — young men whose names I cannot divulge; but they spoke of a personage called The Shadow. Some one whom they served. They told me that they knew where the Doyd treasures were located; but they wanted some place to which the wealth could be transferred. I thought of this house; I remembered that it was empty and belonged to the Doyd estate.
“They took me to the old Criterion Trust building. We went downstairs and opened the vault. These men knew the combination. Inside were boxes and chests, some quite heavy. We brought them to the street and loaded them on a truck that these men had provided. The treasure was unloaded here; we placed it as you now see it.”
“The old Criterion Trust building,” ejaculated Clavelock. “Certainly! That building belongs to the Doyd estate. It was to be kept as it was until after all legacies were settled. That was mentioned in Bigelow Doyd’s instructions concerning real estate holdings.”
“I asked if I could bring Norris and Woodling here,” resumed Lundig. “Both were trustworthy. The men agreed. They kept guard outside, while I stationed my detectives in here. I was to wait until later, before I revealed where the treasure lay; but, foolishly, I disobeyed instructions.”
Lundig turned solemnly to Theresa.
“You doubted my honesty,” he told the girl. “I wanted you to know that I was straight. I wanted to bring you here to let you see the treasure in advance, and I unwisely used a subterfuge to get you here. I knew you would come, if you thought Shiloh would be here. That is why I made my pretext.
“I was glad when Egbert and Mr. Clavelock arrived. I waved the outside watchers away, thinking that all was well. But when my purposes were misunderstood, Norris and Woodling naturally supported me. That is my whole story.”
“A poor one,” gibed Shiloh, still covering Lundig with the revolver. “A weak alibi, Lundig; all this hokum about The Shadow. Who is he? Where is he?”
“That’s not fair, Donald!” exclaimed Theresa, suddenly. “Mark has not said anything that sounds untrue. Only — only—”
She looked about. Clavelock and Egbert were commending Lundig. They believed his story. The girl saw the smile of friendliness that had come on Lundig’s face. She turned to Shiloh.
“What about The Creeper?” she demanded. “Mark could not have been The Creeper—”
“Lundig stole one of your code lists, Clavelock,” accused Shiloh, suddenly.
“I am admitting it,” returned Lundig. “Another piece of folly. I thought I might decipher something from it. To help every one concerned—”
Lundig was producing the list; Clavelock was nodding as he received it. Theresa stared suddenly as she saw a venomous glare appear on Shiloh’s face. Intuitively, the girl cried out:
“Donald! You — you were The Creeper! You were the one who wanted to betray us—”
A FIERCE snarl was Shiloh’s interruption. Furiously, the revealed crook brandished his revolver. Jeffrey leveled the guns that he held; from the valet’s pocket, Shiloh produced a second gun, using his free hand.
Lawyer — heirs — detectives; all were covered as Shiloh growled threats from the doorway. Jeffrey was within the room, ready to support his evil master. Shiloh mouthed epithets; then became coherent.
“The Creeper!” he sneered. “You guessed it at last! I tricked all of you! I came to the old house the night before the first meeting. Theresa heard me creeping about — that is the ruse I have used to hide my exact position — and she thought that it was Mark Lundig. That was a good beginning.
“Like a fool, Theresa, you helped me all along; whenever I used that side door to enter and leave, you told me afterward that you had heard The Creeper. That was not all. You knew that Lundig had taken a code list. You told me about it; I crept in one time and stayed long enough to copy it.”
Theresa remembered that day when she had heard the footsteps creep at six o’clock; again at seven.
Mark Lundig had stated later that he had been in his room. He had spoken the truth. That was when Shiloh had copied the list while it was still in the library.
“You showed me Lundig’s message from Norris,” resumed Shiloh. “I guessed that the boob was hunting for Rayne. I told you to watch him; but I did the same myself. That evening when Lundig came to call Norris, I was outside the house. I entered the side door and listened to his telephone call.
“He left, and so did I. You called me, and Jeffrey answered. Jeffrey was smart enough to pretend that I was at the apartment. He clicked his dial and cut off the call. I was smart, too; I called Jeffrey from a pay station; learned that you had phoned and called you back.”
THERESA gasped. She remembered that interrupted call; she had thought it was Lundig, dialing again from below. She recalled also that she had not heard creeping follow the interruption.
What was more — after Shiloh had called her, he had come over to the house in only a dozen minutes, while it had taken him twenty the time before. He had slipped on that point, Shiloh had, but Theresa had never realized it.