not make a practice of taking stones elsewhere. Except in a few instances; then I never carry many.'
The present case supported Henshew's statement. The gems that he had with him were worth a few thousand dollars at best.
'I expect a call from the office,' added Henshew, eyeing Chanbury cannily. 'They will keep open late, if I say the word. Perhaps you would like to go there tonight.'
'Tomorrow would be better -'
The telephone interrupted Chanbury. He reached for it; heard a high voice inquire for Mr. Henshew.
Chanbury passed over the telephone. Henshew spoke his name; the voice inquired:
'Are you coming back to the office, Mr. Henshew?'
'Back to the office?' repeated Henshew. 'No, not tonight. If you want me again, I shall be here for a while.'
That call was from Shark, another fact that Chanbury had guessed. The art collector listened indulgently while Henshew discussed the merits of the topaz settings. Each passing minute showed a tightness of Henshew's tone, until the visitor noted that Chanbury's desk clock had reached half past nine.
Leaning across the desk, Henshew stated in a tone loud enough for Eleanor to hear:
'Regarding those uncut diamonds, Chanbury. I should like to see them again. I feel that I may have underpriced them.'
Chanbury produced the chamois bag. Henshew examined the diamonds as he spread them on the desk.
'Worth much more,' he declared. 'I might be prepared to pay you four hundred thousand dollars for them.'
'But what about your gems?' queried Chanbury. 'I still want to buy them.'
Henshew made no further attempt to stall.
'Those jewels were stolen,' he declared. 'It is all right for you to know it, Chanbury, but it would ruin my business if people learned that I had been foolish enough to keep them in my apartment. They are gone!'
'All of them?' Chanbury whipped out his penciled list. 'All these that I jotted down from memory?'
Henshew's eyes stared at the list. For a few seconds his lips showed an ugliness that he usually concealed. Changing his manner, Henshew passed back the list and acknowledged:
'They were stolen, all of them. By Shark Meglo.'
'I thought so!' Chanbury came to his feet. 'Henshew, that is just what I wanted to hear you say. I have a witness - Miss Merwood - who has heard everything you stated. You have told so much that you can afford to tell more. I know, at last, that those jewels were the ones that belonged to Hugo Silsam!'
HENSHEW had risen also. He was stepping toward the door; but he was not disconcerted. Instead, he delivered a harsh laugh which ended with the chortled comment:
'I have a witness, also! One who can speak for himself. Shark Meglo!'
Henshew hauled the door open. On the threshold stood Shark, a trio of trigger-men behind him. Those three men were the only thugs that Shark had been able to muster; but Shark's contemptuous look showed that he thought he had all the men he needed.
Entering, Shark covered Chanbury with a big revolver, and nudged to a follower, who swung a gun toward Eleanor.
'Take it easy, Shark,' suggested Henshew. 'The way it's going, I might as well leave first. I can talk to the servant when I go out. Hold the fireworks until I've gained a head start.'
'Sure!' agreed Shark. 'Go build your alibi. We'll fix the flunky afterwards. There was nobody around when we came through, so why leave anybody that might squawk?'
With a narrow look at Chanbury, Shark stepped closer to the desk and picked up the uncut diamonds, to pass them to Henshew.
'You handle these,' suggested the killer. 'Nobody will know the dif. Keep 'em in your safe-deposit vault, along with the dough. I'll lam tonight; you can ship me my cut later -'
In turning toward Henshew, Shark let his gun swing slightly away from Chanbury. The thug who was covering Eleanor was telling a pal that the girl was a swell-looking dame, but that he didn't mind croaking a moll. No time could be better for the law's thrust. It came.
Side panels hoisted wide. Guns roared as Cardona and his men played a set policy of no quarter to the known murderer, Shark Meglo. Before Shark could even squeeze his trigger, he was loaded with lead from four guns.
Two other police revolvers took care of the rogue who covered Eleanor. Shark and the thug hit the floor together.
Motioning his hands downward, Chanbury dropped behind the desk. Eleanor was behind the typewriter table before Chanbury waved. Shark's last pair of gunners had their revolvers up, to shoot it out with the law.
They didn't have a chance. Quick bullets sprawled them; detectives snatched up the dropped guns before the wounded crooks could squirm to regain them.
Cardona had Henshew by the neck. The gem schemer was groping for his pocket, but his hands went limp as Joe choked him. Self-confessed brain in the jewel-murder game, Henshew was a prize that Cardona wanted to take alive. Henshew subsided; from a master-crook, he had become a cowering prisoner.
Clamping bracelets on him, Joe flung Henshew into a chair so hard that the handcuffs rattled.
'That cleans things up,' announced Cardona, as detectives looked to the wounded men. 'Shark did his last dirty job, when he murdered Tyrune. A good guy - Jim! He helped us, even after he was gone. But you staged the real show-down, Mr. Chanbury.'
As Joe gripped Chanbury's hand, the grizzled man smiled and said:
'Don't forget Miss Merwood.'
'I won't.' Joe shook hands with Eleanor. 'You were game, Miss Merwood. I'll bet if the same thing happened again, you'd be just as cool as ever -'
CARDONA'S praise was halted by a peal of muffled mirth, that presaged the very event of which Joe spoke. The chilling laugh loudened, as a clatter occurred at the back of the room. Past Chanbury, Cardona saw an appearing shape in black.
The Shadow was stepping from a third alcove, in the very center of the rear wall - one that had a swinging panel, on concealed hinges. Henshew, gaping from his chair, quailed at sight of the ominous avenger. Chanbury, wheeling, stared frozen.
Of all who saw The Shadow, one alone expected his arrival. That was Eleanor Merwood. Her happy gasp told that, to her, The Shadow's return was the needed climax in the exposure of hidden crime.
CHAPTER XXIII. DEAD FACES
THE SHADOW stood with folded arms as he faced the group before him. He had left past work to others; he could rely upon new cooperation when he required it. In whispered tone, he reminded Joe Cardona:
'You have forgotten something most important. The stolen jewels!'
It dawned on Joe that Shark had spoken of the uncut diamonds and cash in Henshew's possession, but no word of the gems that had been used in the round of murders. Cardona supposed that they would be found in Shark's hide-out; but there was one person present who held a different opinion.
As The Shadow faced the center of the room, his burning eyes had an effect like those of certain portraits on the walls. They seemed to bore toward every one who viewed them. Henshew felt that the stare was meant for him. Hoarsely, the captured crook exclaimed:
'You have them! You took them from my apartment! That was why you waited there -'
The Shadow's words cut Henshew short. In steady monotone, the cloaked avenger, disputed Henshew's belief.
'I waited,' declared The Shadow, 'because the gems were gone. Some one had rifled that hiding place, to take the jewels elsewhere.'
The Shadow stepped aside. Within the space where he had been, others saw the door of a built-in vault, set deep. Eleanor gazed, amazed. She had never known that Chanbury possessed that secret strong room, behind a locked panel.
Eleanor had never studied the outside wall as The Shadow had done tonight. He had found a projection in addition to those that housed the side alcoves.
The sweep of The Shadow's hand indicated the closed safe. The gesture made words unnecessary.
Henshew understood.
