CHAPTER XXIV--HOW IT ENDED
Verbeck's whisper was so low that Riley and Muggs scarcely could hearit, yet they could detect the note of exultation:
"We've got him!"
That was all, and then they started to creep forward, their eyes onthe vault, from which not a bit of light came. The Back Star evidentlywas working in the dark.
Foot by foot they made their way noiselessly toward the open door,expecting every instant to see their quarry step forth and confrontthem, ready to prevent him fighting his way to liberty. They listened,too, for the sound of feet in the room behind them that would tell ofthe arrival of the police, but the sound of feet did not come.
And now, at last, they were within six feet of the open door, staringinto the blackness of the vault, from which came not the slightestsound. Verbeck felt his heart pounding at his ribs like a trip hammeras they waited. The seconds passed.
Then Riley spoke in a low, tense tone, yet his voice seemed to roarthrough the place:
"Come out, Mr. Black Star! We've got you!"
Silence their answer!
"Come out! Why delay the game?"
Still no answer. Riley reached out and touched Verbeck, touched Muggs,a voiceless command for action. They crept forward again, Verbeck toone side, Muggs on the other, Riley directly before the door. Now theywere in the shadows, and between them and the door was but a faintstreak of light that came through the windows from the street--a streakof light they would have to cross to reach the vault door.
What would happen when they crossed that streak of light? Rileyimagined he knew. Verbeck felt sure that he knew. Muggs alreadyimagined he heard the cracking of an automatic, grunts of pain, facedthe whirlwind charge of a desperate, cornered man, fighting his way tofreedom.
"Come out!" Riley commanded again. "Come--or we'll come in after you!"
Still no answer. Riley crouched and held the torch high above his headin his left hand, ready to touch the button and send a shaft of lightinto the vault. In his right hand he held the automatic, safety catchoff, ready to fire on the instant.
He touched the button.
Light shot through the blackness and illuminated a pathway through thevault door and to the interior. From side to side Riley swung hislight, expecting every instant to hear the shot he anticipated. Therewas no man in the light's path, but it did not penetrate to thecorners.
Riley expelled his breath in a great gasp of determination, andslipped forward. Verbeck and Muggs closed in. If the Black Star waswaiting for them to rush, then the moment for the rush had arrived.
Muggs could endure the suspense no longer. His nerves were on edge. Hegave a subdued squeal and sprang across the path of light, grasped thedoor, hurled it shut, twisted the handle.
"We've got him--got him!" he screeched.
Riley's light showed the perspiration standing out on his forehead ingreat globules.
"Why did you do that?" the detective demanded.
"We've got him! Turn on the lights! The police will be here in aminute, then he'll have no chance to escape!"
Riley would have had it otherwise, and Roger Verbeck had anticipatedhaving the Black Star in shackles by the time the police arrived, butthat could not be helped now. Riley went around the room until hefound the electric switch; he threw it, and the room was suddenlybrilliant with light.
"Well, we've got him, anyway," Verbeck said. "The Black Star may beable to get into a vault, but I'll defy him to get out of that oneexcept by the door."
"Yes, and he'll be dead before he gets out that way, if some one whocan open that vault doesn't come soon. Where's a telephone?"
He saw one in a corner, and rushed toward it and gave the privatenumber.
"That you, chief?" he asked. "This is Riley? Have you sent men? What'sthat--just started? Great Scott---- He did, eh? Say, chief, have the desksergeant telephone to the manager of Jones & Co. to hurry down here.We've got the Black Star locked in the vault, and have to get itunlocked. Yes--sure!"
He hung up the receiver and turned to the others.
"Men on the way," he said. "The chief says he just got the telephonemessage. Says the sergeant said he tried three phones near your place,and all of them had wires cut. Pretty smooth article, that BlackStar--but we've got him! There they come now!"
From the distance came the sound of a siren, the clanging of apatrol-wagon bell. Then the pounding feet on the marble stairs, loudcommands, and men rushed into the establishment of Jones & Co.
"We've got him!" Riley exulted. "Caught him at it! Locked him in thevault! And now we'll stand around until the manager gets here andworks the combination. He played a smooth game, all right--ask Mr.Verbeck about it. But we got him! I reckon he's mighty sorry now thathe stayed in town to make a fool out of Mr. Verbeck."
They waited, crowding about the place, talking excitedly in whispers,debating whether the Black Star would put up a fight when the door wasopened, whether he'd commit suicide and cheat the law, now that he wascornered.
Then the chief came beaming, dreaming of the vindication of hisdepartment the newspapers would have to grant. He grasped Verbeck bythe hand warmly, patted Muggs on the back, congratulated DetectiveRiley.
"I didn't tip off the reporters this time," he said. "Too late for'em, anyway. They'll get it in the noon editions to-day, though. Laughat the police department, will they? Not after this!"
And then the manager of Jones & Co. arrived, a gentleman thepersonification of dignity generally, but at present thepersonification of excitement and dread. He stammered when he talked,and threw up his hands in horror when he saw his establishment crowdedwith police, and it took the chief some minutes to assure him that hisproperty was safe and the would-be thief locked in the vault.
He advanced to the door and prepared to work the combination. Hisnervousness caused him to make a mistake at first, but finally henodded that all that was necessary to open the door was to turn thehandle.
The manager retreated then, to hide behind a show case in fear offlying bullets.
"Might as well come out, Mr. Black Star, and take your medicine!"Riley cried "We've got twenty men here, with guns pointing at thatdoor. You make a hostile move when we open it, and you'll see yourfinish!"
He nodded to the police, twisted the handle, and threw the door open.
Light flooded the interior of the vault. Half a dozen officers, Rileyat their head, rushed.
A cry of consternation came from the detective. Verbeck and Muggscrowded through to took inside.
On the floor of the vault were empty trays that had held jewels. Amongthem were empty chamois bags. Mountings of inferior value werescattered about. But no master criminal stood before them, ready forbattle, or in token of surrender!
"Gone!" Muggs cried.
"But he can't be gone!" Riley shrieked. "We saw him step into thevault! We came right up, never taking our eyes from the door! Muggsslammed the door and twisted the combination. There's no way in or outexcept the door!"
"Gone!" Verbeck echoed.
The chief of police swore. The manager of Jones & Co., who had lefthis place of safety, tore his hair and lamented his loss and beratedthe police.
"He--he can't be gone!" Riley reiterated.
Verbeck, his heart sinking, stepped inside and looked around. Fastenedin the corner of one of the trays was what he had feared he wouldfind--a letter written by the Black Star and addressed to himself. Heread it swiftly, then handed it to the chief, and threw wide his handsin a gesture of momentary despair.
And this is what he had read:
Mr. Verbeck and Aids: I am leaving this because I assume you'll find my other note at the house and follow me here. I dare say that, when you entered you saw me standing before the open door of the vault. You watched, and saw me enter the vault. Did you not? You did not! Your eyes deceived you! I intend waiting here until you arrive, to add one more small bit to my evening's entertainment.
Illusion, my dear Mr. Verbeck--all illusion. The dim ligh
t coming in from the street, you know, helps some. You will notice that there are many mirrors scattered around the room. I took the liberty of moving a few of them to serve my purpose. Go back to the door at which you entered and look at the vault. Have your silly Muggs stand ten feet to the right of the door to the room. Now look at the vault, Mr. Verbeck, and it will appear that the silly Muggs is standing in the vault door. You follow? Simple, old-fashioned mirror illusion that won't even go at country fairs any more. And you fell for that!
For, when you enter the room, I shall be standing within ten feet of you, and you'll imagine you see me in the vault door, and creep forward. I'll take two steps to the right, and you'll think I have entered the vault. You'll advance toward it, and I'll step outside quietly to the window that opens on the court, let myself down a rope already prepared, and be on my way--with this excellent collection of diamonds. All thought out beforehand, you see!
I have made you a laughingstock, as I promised, but I am not done with you yet. I defy you again, Roger Verbeck, as I defy the police. You'll hear from me soon.
*****
They snapped out the lights and tried it--Muggs standing where theBlack Star had said--and found it was so.
They went to the court and found an open window from which a ropedangled to the ground floor below.
Then they placed a guard and went out, leaving the manager to estimateand bemoan his loss.
"He's a devil--a devil!" the chief was muttering.
"He's human--and we'll get him yet!" Roger Verbeck answered, and thefighting look was in his face when he spoke.