Lanford paused. Again he was impressed by the girl’s definite opinions. Kermal spoke.
“Are there any other questions, Mr. Lanford?” he inquired.
Fred started to shake his head; then stopped. One question had occurred to him. He turned to Myra.
“Who are these enemies of yours,” he asked. “Is there anyone in particular whom you fear? Anyone whom you think—”
LANFORD stopped short. Myra was gripping the arms of her chair. Her face had turned pale; she was biting her lips. The girl glanced nervously toward Kermal.
The lawyer came to his feet. For a moment he glared at Lanford; then his wrath subsided before Fred noticed the suppressed outburst.
“Miss Dolthan is highly nervous,” spoke Kermal. “Your question has disturbed her. We must not trouble her with a subject that arouses her fears. Am I right, Doctor Claig?”
“Quite right,” responded the physician. “As you know, Lanford, I am a specialist on nerve conditions. I believe that it would be best for Miss Dolthan to rest.”
Kermal nodded. The girl arose. She steadied and managed to say good night. Fred watched her walk from the room. Daggart closed the door immediately after the girl’s departure.
“About the letter,” declared Kermal, brusquely. “If you write it at once, Doctor Claig can drive downtown and post it so it will go out in the early morning mall.”
“What shall I state in it?” asked Lanford.
“I shall leave that to you,” replied Kermal. “Goodling is a friend of yours. Tell him that you are in New York; that you have met Myra Dolthan. State that you have promised her that you will not explain matters until later. Choose your own wording, so the letter will be natural.”
Lanford nodded and turned about toward the door by which he had entered. Kermal nodded to Daggart. The secretary followed Goodling. The Shadow saw Croy in the hall when the door was opened by Lanford. Then Fred and Daggart went out; the door closed. “Not bad, Claig,” chuckled Kermal. “Not bad at all. We sold Lanford on our story. Others will believe us also.”
“It was Myra who convinced him,” corrected Claig. “Don’t forget that, Kermal.”
“Myra will convince others later.”
“Not if they question her while you are absent.”
“Ridiculous, Claig. She knows what to say.”
“Up to a certain point, yes. But after that — well, you saw how she acted when Lanford questioned her about who the enemies were.”
Kermal grunted angrily; but he had no reply. He paced back and forth across the room. Claig looked dour.
“I guess you’re right,” admitted Kermal, stopping his pacing to face the physician. “Everything is explainable up to a certain point. After that, we need proofs.”
“Which you do not have,” reminded Claig, “and which you can never obtain. Remember, Kermal, how you first told the story to Myra. I was there. I saw her reaction.”
“She listened just as Lanford did tonight. She believed me completely.”
“At first, yes. You told her about threatening danger. That you were performing a duty for her dead father. She welcomed your protection; and then she asked whom it was you feared.”
“And I told her Rufus Dolthan. Her uncle.”
“Yes. You told her that. Like the fool you can sometimes be.”
“I made her believe that her uncle wants to murder her.”
“You made her make believe she believed it.”
“She certainly mistrusts her uncle.”
“And she mistrusts you as well. That girl is in a state of confusion, Kermal. As a witness, she would probably turn against you.”
KERMAL paced again. At last he stopped and pounded his fist upon the table.
“There are millions of dollars hinged on this game of ours, Claig,” declared the lawyer. “You and I are in it deep. You know as well as I do that we have to hold off everyone until after Myra Dolthan becomes of age.
“The girl believes sufficiently in me. As long as she encounters no other influence, she will sign anything that I ask. No one — not even Rufus Dolthan — can question the legality of a paper that bears her signature after she is twenty-one.
“Provided, of course, that it is witnessed. That part of it is easily handled. Croy and Daggart can sign; better still, you and Lanford. Four of you.”
“And suppose,” suggested Claig, “that the lot of us are jailed on account of Blissop and Yager—”
“That does not matter,” broke in Kermal. “There’s only one document that Myra needs to sign. That is her will. In the absence of a later will, such an instrument would remain valid.”
“You are forgetting Rufus Dolthan,” reminded Claig. “Suppose all of us — Lanford, of course, excepted — should become fugitives from justice. Myra would be restored to her uncle. She would know us as thieves and murderers; she would see some game in everything that we have done. No matter how cleverly you word that will, Kermal, its purpose will appear suspicious.”
“We can discuss that point later,” decided Kermal. “I disagree with you on it, Claig. Myra may have doubted some of my statements; but she believes enough of them to make matters safe. As you yourself say, she is in a state of confusion. That is good.
“I made her trust me at the start. Then to clinch matters, I tried to shatter her belief in her uncle. My plan did not work as I expected it. But it did have a negative effect; it made the girl mistrust both her uncle and myself.
“Let her remain confused. Let her distrust everyone concerned. She will seek new friends; and because of her mistrust, she will find safe ones. She will go by the advice of some reputable lawyer; and I will defy any attorney to uncover a joker in the will that I intend to have Myra sign.
“She will be advised to let it stand. We will still hold the upper hand. But all this, Claig” — Kermal shook his shaggy head — “is useless speculation. We are smart enough to come into the clear.”
CLAIG looked unconvinced. Kermal became savage in his argument.
“I’ve told you,” he asserted, “that we can explain Blissop’s death. They can never prove Yager’s murder against us. The birds who finished him have flown.”
“A bad combination,” reminded Claig. “I was afraid that matters would get beyond us. But you were stubborn, Kermal. You insisted on acting as you have.”
“We have Lanford as an ally,” mused Kermal. “He will testify in our behalf.”
“Not when he learns what happened at the courthouse tonight.”
“But Croy and Daggart will stand by.”
“Croy, yes. But not Daggart. He will stick to his story regarding Blissop’s death, because he might be implicated. But when you are accused of Yager’s murder, Daggart will have qualms.”
“How can he bring any charges against me?”
“He can’t. But he will doubt you. He will no longer be whole-heartedly for you. Whatever you do, Kermal, say nothing to Daggart about that crime downtown tonight.”
“You mean that even if I assured him that I did not order Yager’s death he would not believe me?”
“Daggart would not believe you. He knows your stubborn traits, Kermal. If he grasps the idea that crooks are teamed up with us, he will desert us.”
“And report Blissop’s death in order to save his own hide?”
“Exactly. He would consider himself justified.”
Claig paused. Kermal was about to speak when a light tap sounded at the door. Kermal growled; Daggart entered. The secretary was bringing Lanford’s letter.
KERMAL read the epistle. He nodded in satisfaction, put the letter in its envelope and thrust the latter into a larger wrapper, upon which he wrote an address.
“The letter is all right, Claig,” assured the lawyer. “Get it downtown right away. I have addressed it to a friend in New York. He will mail Lanford’s letter back. Lanford addressed its envelope to Goodling.”