"Is he in New York?" I inquired anxiously.
"Yes, I believe he is."
Kennedy seemed indisposed to answer more until he knew more, and I saw that he would prefer not being questioned for the present.
We thanked the undertaker for his courtesy and went out.
Meanwhile Elaine had called up Perry Bennett.
"Mr. Bennett," she exclaimed over the wire, "just guess who called on me?"
"Who?" he answered, "I give it up."
"Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Jameson," she called back.
"Is that so?" he returned. "Isn"t that fine? I didn"t think he was the kind to run away like that. How did it happen?"
Elaine quickly told the story as I had told her.
Had she known it, however, Bennett"s valet, Thomas, was at that very moment listening at the door, intensely interested.
As Bennett hung up the receiver, Thomas entered the room.
"If anyone calls me," ordered Bennett, "take the message, particularly if it is from Miss Dodge. I must get downtown--and tell her after I finish my court work for the day I shall be right up."
"Yes sir," nodded the valet with a covert glance at his master.
Then, as Bennett left, he followed him to the door, paused, thought a moment, then, as though coming to a sudden decision, went out by an opposite door.
It was not long afterward that a knock sounded at the door of the new headquarters of the Clutching Hand. LeCroix and the secretary were there, as well as a couple of others.
"The Chief!" exclaimed one.
The secretary opened the door, and, sure enough, the Clutching Hand entered.
"Well, how did your infra-red rays work?" he asked LeCroix.
"Fine."
"And they"re gone?"
"Yes. The flowers were in the window yesterday. Two of our men saw them on the boat."
There came another knock. This time, as the door opened, it was Thomas, Bennett"s faithless valet, who entered.
"Say," blurted out the informer, "do you know Kennedy and Jameson are back?"
"Back?" cried the crooks.
"Yes,--they didn"t go. Changed clothes with the porters. I just heard Miss Dodge telling Mr. Bennett."
Clutching Hand eyed him keenly, then seemed to burst into an ungovernable fury.
Quickly he began volleying orders at the valet and the others. Then, with the secretary and two of the other crooks he left by another door from that by which he had sent the valet forth.
Leaving the undertaker"s, Kennedy and I made our way, keeping off thoroughfares, to police headquarters, where, after making ourselves known, Craig made arrangements for a raid on the house across the street from the laboratory where we had seen the opera gla.s.s reflection.
Then, as secretly as we had come, we went out again, letting ourselves into the laboratory, stealthily looking up and down the street. We entered by a bas.e.m.e.nt door, which Kennedy carefully locked again.
No sooner had we disappeared than one of the Clutching Hand"s spies who had been watching behind a barrel of rubbish gave the signal of the hand down the street to a confederate and, going to the door, entered by means of a skeleton key.
We entered our laboratory which Kennedy had closed the day before. With shades drawn, it now looked deserted enough.
I dropped into a chair and lighted a cigarette with a sigh of relief, for really I had thought, until the boat sailed, that Kennedy actually contemplated going away.
Kennedy went over to a cabinet and, from it, took out a notebook and a small box. Opening the notebook on the laboratory table, he rapidly turned the pages.
"Here, Walter," he remarked. "This will answer your questions about the mysterious deadly ray."
I moved over to the table, eager to satisfy my curiosity and read the notes which he indicated with his finger.
INFRA-RED RAY NOTES
The infra-red ray which has been developed by LeCroix from the experiments of the Italian scientist Ulivi causes, when concentrated by an apparatus perfected by LeCroix, an instantaneous combustion of nonreflecting surfaces. It is particularly deadly in its effect on the brain centers.
It can be diverted, it is said however, by a shield composed of platinum backed by asbestos.
Next Kennedy opened the case which he had taken out of the cabinet and from it he took out the platinum-asbestos mirror, which was something of his own invention. He held it up and in pantomime showed me just how it would cut off the deadly rays.
He had not finished even that, when a peculiar noise in the laboratory itself disturbed him and he hastily thrust the asbestos platinum shield into his pocket.
Though we had not realized it, our return had been antic.i.p.ated.
Suddenly, from a closet projected a magazine gun and before we could move, the Clutching Hand himself slowly appeared, behind us.
"Ah!" he exclaimed with mock politeness, "so, you thought you"d fool me, did you? Well!"
Just then, two other crooks, who had let themselves in by the skeleton key through the bas.e.m.e.nt jumped into the room through that door covering us.
We started to our feet, but in an instant found ourselves both sprawling on the floor.
In the cabinet, beneath the laboratory table, another crook had been hidden and he tackled us with all the skill of an old football player against whom we had no defence.
Four of them were upon us instantly.