Lessep turned off the motor. Sagging above the machine, he pointed toward the unbolted door, where Commissioner Barth stood facing him. The commissioner, bald-headed, yet austere, had backed against the closed barrier, determined that no one else should leave.
“Bolt the door!” suggested Lessep, gasping.
Barth complied. The professor then glanced all about the room. Others followed his gaze as it wandered from door to door. The exit to the hallway was bolted, as before. So was the entrance to Lessep’s little office. With a broad sweep of his hand, the professor invited a complete search. He began to detach the wires from his motors.
HALF quivering, men began to look about. Wainwright Barth boldly approached the glass cabinet. He was followed by the two reporters, who tapped the transparent panels and looked at each other in puzzled fashion.
Findlay Warlock, in a high state of excitement, began to join in the inspection. The others were a bit slower; yet they gained encouragement as they proceeded.
Lessep, suddenly subdued, kept on coiling wires. At times he looked up. He encountered the steady gaze from Cranston’s eyes. He blinked and looked away.
By the door, Lessep saw the rugged form of Marryat Darring. Where Cranston’s eyes had been challenging, Darring’s were skeptical. Lessep faced their gaze; he saw an unbelieving smile appear upon Darring’s lips. The old man responded with a glare. Then Commissioner Barth’s arrival proved an intervention.
Barth had satisfied himself that the room was empty. He was also sure that no one could have made exit from it, except by the door that he had seen open and close. Faced by the incredible, the bespectacled commissioner demanded a statement from Professor Lessep.
“Tell me, professor,” ordered Barth. “Did this man Crofton actually attain a state of invisibility?”
“Yes,” assured Lessep. “In the exact manner that I explained. The experiment worked perfectly, commissioner. It is a case of total devisualization. Indeed, it amazed me.”
“How so?”
“Because I had never before attempted the devisualization of a living object. The atmospheric state that I created has adhered to Crofton’s form. You saw him go out the door. You saw him press the light switch. Did you catch one glimpse of his actual form?”
“Not one.”
“Ah! It is too bad.”
Barth looked perplexed. Warlock, enthused by the success of the experiment, could not understand the professor’s sudden turn. Both wanted an explanation. Lessep gave it.
“It is too bad,” he cackled, gloomily, “that I should have spoken so much to Crofton. I told him that the experiment would be complete. More than that, I said that his risk would be great because he could lose his devisualized state only through the application of the rays from the second motor.
“I meant it as a warning, commissioner, a warning that Crofton should have heeded. But now I fear that he took it in a different sense. Could it be that he had some reason? So it seems. But he gave me no reason to think that he would wish to remain unseen.”
“You mean,” questioned Barth, anxiously, “that this man Crofton will not be visible again until you have subjected him to the second treatment?”
“Exactly so!” assured Lessep, glumly.
“It seems incredible!” declared the commissioner. “Beyond all belief—”
“It is a hoax!” The interruption came from Darring. The black-haired man had approached the cabinet.
“Don’t let it worry you, commissioner. A man can’t vanish into thin air.”
“But we have seen it,” stated Barth. “The man could not have walked from the cabinet without observation.”
“Except in the darkness.”
“I was at the door. I gained that post immediately after the lights went out.”
“The other doors?”
“They are still bolted.”
HANDS in pockets, Darring strode over to examine the doors that the others had already inspected. He found them tightly bolted. A bit puzzled, yet still skeptical, Darring came back. He looked toward Lamont Cranston, as though seeking assurance from the one other person who did not stand convinced.
“What do you think of it?” he inquired. “Do you share my view, Mr. Cranston? A hoax?”
“It is no hoax,” put in Warlock, suddenly. “You are unfair, Darring. I call upon the commissioner to support me when I say that this experiment was fairly conducted and proves Professor Lessep’s claim.”
“Incredible though it appears,” decided Barth, “we are faced by the definite fact that a man has vanished. I am forced to agree with Mr. Warlock. This is no hoax.”
The reporters were quick with their pencils. They wanted a further statement. Barth, a little flustered, began to polish his pince-nez spectacles, after carefully removing them from the bridge of his nose.
“A statement?” queried the commissioner. “Hm-m-m. It might be best to hear others first. By the way, Cranston, what is your opinion of this experiment?”
“I am interested in the subject,” came the quiet response. “I should like to know — from Professor Lessep — why Miles Crofton was chosen for this experiment in devisualization.”
“For two reasons,” returned Lessep, promptly. “First, because he had proven to be a competent assistant. Second, because he was a man who had undergone many hazards. He had been an aviator, a soldier of fortune—”
“How did he happen to come into your employ?”
“I advertised for an assistant who understood electrical appliances. I specified that I would need a man who would take unusual risks—”
“And Miles Crofton responded?”
“Yes.”
Before another question could be asked, a sudden pounding broke out from the door that led into Lessep’s parlor. For a moment, Commissioner Barth was startled. Then, adjusting his pince-nez, the official smiled wisely.
“Perhaps Miles Crofton has returned,” he decided. “Remain as you are every one. I shall answer this knock.”
Barth strode to the door and unbolted it. The barrier opened. In stepped a stocky, swarthy-faced man, with two others close behind him. Barth stood astonished. This was Detective Joe Cardona, the ace from headquarters.
Cardona looked about the room; then turned to nod to Barth.
“Called you from headquarters, commissioner,” said Joe. His right hand was half out of his pocket; it was plain that his fingers clutched a gun. “No answer, so I came up here. Told Markham to call you later.”
“We heard the bell ring,” returned Barth. “But neither call was answered by any one—”
“I see.” Joe was looking about the group as he made the interruption. “Which one of these men is Miles Crofton?”
“Miles Crofton?” exclaimed Barth. “Why — why — Crofton is gone. Did you want him?”
“Yes,” responded Cardona, grimly. “For murder!”
CHAPTER V. THE QUEST BEGINS
IT was midnight. The lights were on in Commissioner Barth’s office. The high official was holding council.
Present was a select group that had accompanied him from Professor Melrose Lessep’s laboratory.
Barth had chosen this spot for a consultation with Joe Cardona. He had insisted that his friend Lamont Cranston come along. Findlay Warlock, as the patron of Professor Lessep, had also been invited.
Warlock, in turn, had requested the presence of Marryat Darring.
“The facts of the case,” summarized Barth, as he sat importantly behind his mahogany desk, “are these. A man — one Miles Crofton — is at large. He has disappeared completely from human sight. Professor Melrose Lessep, the person responsible for this disappearance, attributes it to a process that he has termed ‘devisualization.’