Tony whistled.
“Pretty smart, Johnny,” he said. “You’re safe enough. Are you sure the guy you got the car from was all right?”
“Sure enough,” replied the big man. “He didn’t even know me, until I proved who I was. He’s the last guy in the world that they would look for to find out where I was.”
“Then it’s all right,” declared Ezekiel Bingham. “Personally I think it is all your imagination, Johnny.”
“Well, I’m not worrying now,” came the reply. “All this didn’t start until after I left the place where I had fixed everything. The Shadow wasn’t anywhere around there.”
“Then you’re ready to take the gems?”
“You bet. Sooner the better. Do it quick.”
The old lawyer went upstairs and returned with a large box. He opened it upon the table, and the eager eyes of the onlookers glittered as they saw the sparkling jewels that had been the pride of Geoffrey Laidlow.
“Look them over,” said the lawyer briefly. “I have the complete list in my possession. I shall go over it with you and arrange your shares. Do you want to wait, Johnny?”
“I can’t. It’s nearly nine o’clock now. Two hours into the city if the traffic is heavy. Maybe more than two hours. I’ve got to get there before midnight.”
“Quite right. Shall I send some one into town with you?”
The old lawyer looked around the group.
“Not me,” declared Jake. “I want to go over that list. I’ll bet it’s a sweet one. We can figure just about what we’re going to get when we check up the list.”
“That’s right,” agreed Tony. “I want to see the list, too.”
Bingham looked at Spotter.
“Let Johnny go alone,” the little man declared. “He’s done it before. Leave it to him. I’d like to look at that list myself.”
“Agreed,” said the old lawyer in a final tone.
The big man with the red face arose, and Ezekiel Bingham handed him the closed box that contained the collection of precious stones.
“Anything else, Johnny?”
“Yeah! What’s that over in the corner?”
“Look him over before you go,” said the odd lawyer. “It’s a man who looked in the window before you came. Jake and Tony caught him.”
The man with the jewel box strode across the room and moved Harry’s bloody face with his foot.
“Say,” he cried. “I know who this is!”
“Who?”
“That phony taxi driver I told you about!”
The men were on their feet.
“Maybe it’s The Shadow!” exclaimed Jake.
“It ain’t The Shadow,” was the reply from the lips of English Johnny. “No, sir. It ain’t The Shadow. But this fellow is a bad egg.”
“What’ll we do with him?” inquired Tony.
“Bump him off,” suggested Spotter.
“One moment,” interrupted Ezekiel Bingham. “This is serious business. Do not talk of murder. Let us say, instead, that it would be advisable to dispose of this man purposely. Now, who will do it?”
“I grabbed him,” declared Jake. “I’ve done my share.”
“How about you, Tony?” “Swell, I can do it; but I don’t have a car to lug him away in.”
“Spotter?”
The little man shook his head.
“You’re right,” he affirmed. “This ain’t no foolishness. I ain’t no hand at bumpin’ ‘em off.”
Ezekiel Bingham looked questioningly at English Johnny.
“So it’s up to me, eh?” laughed the big man. “Up to English Johnny? Well, I’ll take care of him. I ain’t saying what I’m going to do with him. Maybe I’ll give him a job in a lunch wagon - and maybe I won’t.
“Now, I’ll steer you fellows right. I’m leaving now. Lay him in the back of my car, leaning against the door. Now, I’m going by a road that goes over a long bridge, nobody there at night - and the water there is forty foot deep.
“It ain’t too far from here, and it ain’t too near. Now suppose I should happen to open that back door right where the bridge curves -“
He stopped. The others nodded in approbation of his scheme.
While the men had been discussing his fate, Harry Vincent had regained consciousness. He suppressed a groan as he opened his eyes and saw the leering face of English Johnny. His eyes shut again.
CHAPTER XXXIV
ENGLISH JOHNNY DEPARTS
THE men gathered around Vincent’s body and openly expressed their admiration of English Johnny’s scheme.
“It takes nerve to do it, through,” asserted Spotter. “English Johnny’s got nerve, boys, and don’t forget it.”
The big man smiled at the compliment.
“Yes,” he said, “I got nerve; and what’s more, I got it in for this fellow. I oughta been here when you caught him. I’d like to pound him a bit, but it ain’t no use now since you fellows finished the job.”
Jake suggested that heavy stones be tied to the body of the prisoner. This was done, and more rope was employed to truss the body so that it would roll easily when released.
Harry had again lapsed into unconsciousness. His mind was spared the details of this scene.
“Outside with him, boys,” came the order in the voice of English Johnny. “No lights, though. Put him in the car; lean him against the door on the right.”
“How about in front?” questioned Jake.
“No. In back. Better there. I’ve got a long arm. I can reach it.”
Tony and Jake lifted Harry and started to lug him to the door. The added weight of the stones caused trouble. They were removed, and Spotter carried the stones to the car, where they were attached again.
“I think he’s dead already,” whispered Jake, looking at Harry’s face.
“So much the better,” said Tony. “Just a case of dropping the body, then.”
They saw Ezekiel Bingham coming to the car with English Johnny. The big man had the jewel case. He tucked it in the pocket of the front door.
“Right handy there,” he remarked.
English Johnny entered the car, pressed the starter, and the motor began to hum. He turned the automobile on the grass, and the headlights gleamed upon the four men. English Johnny clicked them off again.
He stopped the car at the end of the walk that led to the front steps, and as his companions gathered close he leaned from the window so that his face joined them in the darkness.
“Leave it to me,” he said. “English Johnny will do the work. This here in the back seat - one second does the trick. You forget all about it, because I’m going to forget it. Then I’ll be in New York, and you can bet that those sparklers will be in the right hands before midnight.
“But I’m going to tell you something you don’t know. I saved this to surprise you. Didn’t want to start a lot of excitement while we had other things on our minds.”
Even Ezekiel Bingham drew closer. The old lawyer sensed that he would hear amazing news. Something in the tone of English Johnny’s voice indicated it.
“Listen,” said the man at the wheel. “You know this Shadow we talked about? He’s real, all right. He’s real, and I know where he is.”
“Where?” asked Spotter.
“Right where you can get him.” The voice of English Johnny was low and definite. “Bring a lantern, Tony, and follow me. Then I’ll explain.”
The man hurried to the house and returned with the light. It revealed English Johnny’s face, grinning with a knowing, sinister smile.
“The Shadow is real, boys,” repeated the man in the car, “and what’s more, he was here tonight. But he’s not the fellow here in back. He’s laying up yonder by the house.
“Wait! Don’t go yet! He’s safe where he is. How he got here, I don’t know. It was dark; I don’t even know what his face is like. I know he was The Shadow, though, because he came out of the night just like a shadow; and he landed on me. But he met his match this time. Met his match when he tackled English Johnny.