room. Dropping the cylinder, Chandler started back.
Maisky had told him the gas would operate in ten seconds. He hadn't believed this was possible. Hank was standing right in the middle of the cloud as it exploded out of the cylinder. He went down as if his legs had become boneless, slamming against Chandler and sending him staggering.
Rita Watkins, also near the congestion of gas, went next. Her hand started to her throat, but failed to complete the journey. She spread across her desk, her skirts riding up over her thighs, her long hair cascading into a wastepaper basket full of discarded memos.
The other girls collapsed almost simultaneously. The last to go was Bic Lawdry. With bulging eyes and a limp hand groping for his .45, he struggled off the stool, then his legs gave way and he crashed down on the floor at Wash's feet.
Chandler stood for a long moment staring through the goggles of his mask, feeling sick and frightened, then seeing Wash was already taking up handfuls of neatly packed $500 bills, he pulled himself together and joined him.
Working like madmen, they quickly filled the carton. Even in his panic, Chandler realised that Wash was much calmer than he was. The negro was stacking the bills fast, but with care, using every available inch of space in the carton.
Seven minutes later, the carton was full. Chandler replaced the lid.
'Come on . . . let's get out of here!' he said, his voice muffled, his face, under the mask, streaming with sweat.
Wash motioned to the rack containing the $5 bills. Chandler had forgotten Maisky's instructions. He ran to the rack and taking several bundles of money, wedged them into his hip pockets and in the pockets of his blouse. Wash followed his example.
Unable to carry more, the two men looked at each other and nodded.
They were aware of three blinking red lights on Rita's desk. Chandler was aware too of Rita's long legs and her white thighs as she sprawled across the desk.
They caught hold of the carton, startled by its weight, then, opening the steel door, they edged out into the passage.
By this time the air conditioner had cleared the gas, and they paused to rip off their gas masks.
Fifteen yards down the passage, Perry, his broad back blocking Regan's view of the vault door, continued to listen to the old man's story of a gambler who, having lost all his money, had offered his mistress on the next spin of the wheel.
'With his luck running so bad,' Regan said, grinning, 'I'd have taken the bet. She was quite a chick. Mind you, I like 'em built big, and this chick was the original feather bed.' He shook his head. 'They threw him out and the chick as well . . . a darn shame.'
Leaving the gas masks on the floor, Chandler and Wash, Wash walking backwards, moved down the corridor, carrying the carton.
Perry glanced over his shoulder.
'Well, I guess the boys have fixed it,' he said. 'Glad to have talked to you, mister . . . a privilege. You sure have been interesting. I'll get the truck open.'
He walked into the hot, still night and opened the truck. Maisky, dying little deaths, heard the doors open. He started the car's engine.
Regan adjusted his spectacles and looked at Chandler as he and Wash moved past him.
'Taking the old one away. . . it's snarled up,' Chandler said, sweating under the load. 'They're happy now . . . so long, mister.'
Regan nodded.
'So long, boy.'
At this moment Mike O'Brien, the top security guard of the Casino, decided to look in at the vault. This he did every three hours, and this was to be his last visit.
He arrived out of the darkness as Chandler and Wash were loading the carton into the truck.
Maisky, sitting motionless behind the steering wheel, saw him coming, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had no means of warning the other men that a guard was approaching.
Chandler had shut one of the truck doors and was shutting the other when he felt, rather than saw, Perry stiffen.
The next second he found himself confronted by a solidly built, middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Casino's security guards, his level, dark eyes regarding him with a hard scrutiny.
'What's going on?' O'Brien demanded.
Chandler was vaguely aware that Perry had melted into the shadows. He saw Wash, out of the corner of his eyes, take a slow step back.
Chandler was professional enough to realise this moment was his. This was the reason why Maisky had chosen him. This was why he would earn three hundred thousand dollars.
Keeping his face dead pan, his eyes slightly surprised, Chandler said, 'Emergency, pal. We've just changed the calculator in the vault.' He was a little uneasy to hear his voice sounded so husky. 'Mr.
Lewis's orders.' He slammed the other door of the truck. 'My luck! What a time to have an emergency.'
'Hold it!' O'Brien snapped. 'Open up. I want to look in the truck.'
Chandler stared fixedly at him.
