“But, apparently, he tried some trick. He blurted out the fact. That error cost him his life. Of course, had I been here, had I already revealed my theories—”
“Cranston,” stormed Barth, “I extend you no thanks for what you have told us. We do not need your aid. Since you did not choose to speak before this, you can end your theorizing. I shall conduct the rest of this investigation.”
“Very well.” Cranston bowed slightly. “Suit yourself, commissioner. I believe that I have supplied enough information to enable Detective Cardona to furnish the rest. He is a capable man, Cardona. Given a clue, he seldom fails.”
With that compliment, Lamont Cranston turned and strolled from the room. His footsteps faded in the direction of the stairs.
WAINWRIGHT BARTH fumed. Then he turned to Joe Cardona.
“Bring Crofton with us,” ordered Barth. “We are going downstairs into the living room.”
Cardona roused Crofton. The others followed. In the living room, they found Markham, a police surgeon, and two detectives.
“Markham,” said Barth, with sudden impulse, “hurry out and stop Mr. Cranston before he gets away. I want him to come back.”
“Very well, sir.”
Markham departed. Barth talked with the police surgeon; then ordered the prompt removal of Norgan’s body. The corpse was taken out. Markham returned while it was on the way.
“Too late to catch him, commissioner,” he said. “The limousine had gone before I got there.”
“Too bad,” said Barth, sourly. “All right, Markham. Go down to the morgue with the body. Send the other men back to headquarters. Something else, also. Call the Cobalt Club and leave word for Mr. Cranston to communicate with me here.”
Markham departed. Barth turned to Warlock and Darring. He made a comment.
“I was hasty,” he admitted. “We owe much to Cranston. I see now that he was right. He wanted to wait until the Unseen Killer gained the spoils. That he might see him trapped with the goods.
“This man” — he indicated Crofton, half asleep in a chair — “is obviously innocent. There is no Unseen Killer — as such — but there is an unknown killer. He is the man we want. Cranston has proven that fact for us. A man smart enough to simply stay out of sight, without actually being invisible. He is the man we want—”
“And the man we can get,” put in Cardona.
“If Cranston can furnish us with further clues,” decided Barth.
“We have enough,” returned Cardona. “He knew that when he left. He didn’t have to tell us any more. He told us that there was no Unseen Killer. Well, if there wasn’t, how did—”
Cardona paused as a sharp voice spoke from a few feet away. The detective turned; so did two others: Barth and Warlock. They were facing Marryat Darring. The black-haired man had drawn a pair of revolvers. He held the trio covered.
“How did I fight the Unseen Killer in the hall?” demanded Darring, with a laugh. “That was your question, eh? I’ll answer it. I didn’t fight him. I faked it. I’m the man you want!”
Darring’s face had taken on a leer. His game of crime revealed, the master crook was gloating with the evil that he no longer could conceal.
CHAPTER XXII. WEALTH REGAINED
“So it finally drilled through your head, eh?” questioned Darring, addressing Joe Cardona. “Filtered through the skull of the dumbest dick in the business.”
“How long did you practice that act of yours?” retorted Joe. “Wrestling yourself, like you did in the hall?”
“A long time,” acknowledged Darring. “That was part of the game — like the murders that I prepared. Trip Burgan was working for me. But I handled the killings myself.
“You’re dumb, Cardona. But not so dumb as your boss, Barth. He pulled the prize muff, right here to-night, when he chased Cranston out. I wondered how long I could stall off while Cranston was here. But when he went, I felt easy.
“It will be curtains for the three of you, thanks to you again, commissioner. Sending Markham away with the corpse. Well, when he comes back again, he’ll find four more.”
Darring paused. He held the others helpless. They were bunched together, three of them, under the muzzles of his guns. The fourth, Crofton, was still handcuffed. He could make no move, though he was wide awake by this time.
“Those three swindlers had plenty of easy money,” remarked Darring, referring to Hildon, Amboy, and Norgan. “I saw that as soon as I took up the executive job with Centralized Power. I knew that they were too smart to have left a loophole for the law.
“You, Warlock, were a fool. I knew that when I looked into Professor Lessep’s turbine inventions. When you told me about his scheme for devisualization, I knew the man was crazy. But it gave me an idea.
“Through Trip Burgan, I framed things with the professor. Trip did the talking. Lessep did not suspect that I was in it. He went through with the fake demonstration. Crofton vanished, as he told you.
“I wanted an Unseen Killer. One that I could use as a blind. That’s why I had Trip Burgan tell a man named Crazy Lagran to turn stool. So Crazy could get Joe Cardona on Crofton’s trail. It worked.”
Joe Cardona glared angrily. He saw the rest. Crazy had been paid to give the tip-off. It worked two ways. It made Crofton a hunted man, marked as a killer. It also kept Crofton silent in the hideout that Trip had provided.
“The professor began to weaken,” chuckled Darring. “I expected that. He kept calling up Trip. Something had to be done. Trip told him to ditch some of the apparatus. He did. I was with the rest of you. While we were looking for the missing lever, I put the bomb bulb in place.
“The professor did write himself that note — at Trip’s suggestion. Well, his death added another boost to the stock of the Unseen Killer. It also put Crofton in a worse light than ever.
“Then, I began. I knew all about Hildon’s house and Amboy’s apartment. I had been both places, talking over matters that pertained to Centralized Power. I mailed them death notes — Norgan, too — and they failed to answer. So I killed Hildon. As Cranston elucidated.”
Another chuckle. Darring was relishing this talk. He feared no interruption. In sneering fashion, he resumed:
“Amboy and Norgan double-crossed me. I found the black box. Loaded with blank paper. So I headed for the empty apartment and finished Amboy. I had no plan for killing Norgan. I knew he wouldn’t dare to welch.
“But I gave him an extra day to think it over. Cardona pulled something in the interim. The dragnet. That meant bumping Crazy Lagran. Chuck Galla did the job. Neat enough to make Cardona think he had bumped into the Unseen Killer.”
Darring paused a moment; then he glared venomously at Commissioner Barth who was blinking through his spectacles.
“You fool!” gloated Darring. “Cranston was right. Norgan should have been safe here to-night. But he tried some funny idea of his own — thinking that Warlock was behind the Unseen Killer’s game.
“This house, that Warlock bought so cheaply, I fixed it and arranged its sale to Warlock. That’s how he got the bargain. Why? So I could make it fit the Unseen Killer’s game. Warlock was a good goat. I knew that if any one began to wise up — like Norgan — he would blame Warlock because this was Warlock’s house. Look, you fools!”
BACKING to the wall, Darring pressed the back of his hand against a spot near the rear doorway. A panel opened with a click.
Three men stared. They were looking into the interior of Warlock’s wall safe. There, before their gaze, were the securities that Norgan had placed in the wall of Warlock’s study.