But he reckoned without Tim’s persistence. The tug was repeated, determinedly.
“I want to so something useful,” Tim’s tiny voice floated up to him. “I am tired of being idle. I want something to do.”
An idea born of desperation popped into Larry’s head. The detective was turning to him when, with a fervent prayer, he dropped the diamond pendant to Tim. He couldn’t risk a glance to see what Tim would do with it.
All that was left to him was hope.
He met the detective’s sharp gaze with what blandness he could muster.
The colonel breathed noisily as he regarded Larry.
“Search this man carefully,” he ordered the detective. “He looks like the criminal type to me.”
“Teeth comfortable?” Larry inquired pleasantly of the old man. The remark scored a direct hit. The colonel’s cheeks flushed a violent pink. His fists clenched spasmodically.
“I wish I had you in my company for one day, young man,” he fumed. “I’d teach you the meaning of respect to your elders.”
“A man who expects respect simply because of his age, is headed for the grazing grounds of senility,” Larry said pleasantly. “According to your theory, sir, an Egyptian mummy should be practically idolized.”
The detective completed his search and turned to the colonel.
“Nothing there,” he said.
The colonel controlled his disappointment manfully, but his attitude indicated clearly that if Larry were innocent it was only because someone else had beaten him to the diamond.
“Harrumph!” he growled and moved after the detective.
Larry looked up and saw Gloria watching him. She dropped her eyes quickly but not before he noticed the radiant light of relief that seemed to illuminate her face.
The detective was searching Dereck and Larry turned to watch the procedure. Dereck was smiling pleasantly.
“Look carefully,” he said. “I shouldn’t want you to overlook anything.”
“I won’t,” the detective said, and there was suddenly a grimmer note in his voice. He knelt quickly and fumbled at Dereck’s trouser cuff for an instant and then stood up. The smile was gone from his face.
In his hand he held Gloria’s pendant necklace.
“You weren’t so smart, after all,” he snapped.
There was an incredulous gasp from the assembled guests.
“There’s some mistake!” the colonel roared.
Dereck’s face was as pale as ivory.
“I agree with you, Colonel,” he said smoothly. “There has been a mistake made and our clever detective has made it. He should have drawn his gun.”
A short, ugly revolver appeared magically in his own hand. He snatched the necklace from the detective’s hand, backed away a pace, swinging the gun about to cover the entire room.
“You stupid fools,” he said mockingly, “you fell for my charming line without hesitation, didn’t you?” His eyes were cool and dangerous as he backed toward the archway leading to the hall. “I shouldn’t advise any of you to attempt to follow me. It won’t be healthy.” He smiled ironically. “And you can spare yourself the effort of phoning the police. I took the precaution of cutting the wires before I turned the lights out.”
Larry listened in dazed disbelief. Dereck had stolen the diamond in the first place, not Buggy. Then he had planted it on him, when the search started, probably intending to recover it somehow. But Tim had deposited the pendant in Dereck’s trouser cuff, thus reversing the situation again.
And now Dereck was about to make his getaway. Larry tensed himself and moved forward instinctively, but Dereck’s gun swung around to cover him.
“Don’t try to be a hero,” Dereck said coldly. “Frankly I would enjoy shooting you.”
Larry stopped in his tracks and Dereck backed toward the hallway.
“Au revoir, my stupid friends,” he smiled.
A figure stepped out from the hall behind Dereck and rubbed his knuckles carefully. This figure was dressed like a rainbow and there was an expression of scientific detachment on his wrinkled face as he measured the distance to a spot just back of Dereck’s ear.
His arm came down in a swift chopping stroke and on the end of that arm there was a clenched fist, as hard as rock and twice as effective.
Dereck’s eyes spun crazily at the moment of impact. The gun slipped from his fingers and he toppled slowly to the floor.
“Neat, eh?” Buggy Rafferty smiled at the guests.
Larry stepped forward quickly and his hand closed over the diamond pendant a split second before Buggy’s. Buggy drew back and straightened up sheepishly.
“Too late again,” he said mournfully.
“You aren’t a crook at heart, I’m afraid,” Larry grinned.
“That hurts,” Buggy said, sighing heavily. “I guess I’ll go now. I was just making my exit when they found the diamond on this lug. I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
“Why not?” Larry asked.
Buggy shrugged. “I don’t know. Professional jealousy, I guess.”
Larry turned and handed the necklace to the detective from the insurance Company and then he looked for Gloria, but she was nowhere in sight.
Excusing himself, he hurried through the library and into the sun-room. On the veranda that bordered this room he found her. She was leaning against one of the wooden columns, regarding the moon with a rather belligerent expression on her small face.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello yourself.”
“They found the diamond.”
“I know. Go away.”
Larry moved around in front of her and put his hands on her bare shoulders. They were cold to his touch.
“Let me get you a wrap,” he said. “You’ll catch cold out here.”
“Never mind. I’m going up to my room now. Good night.”
“Please don’t go,” Larry said desperately. “There’s something I want to tell you.”
“I am not interested,” Gloria said in a small voice. Her lower lip was trembling. “Take your hands off me. I’m going.”
Larry sighed. “All right,” he said, dropping his hands to his side. “Go ahead.”
A metallic snap broke the quietness. Gloria looked up at him suddenly, a startled, half-frightened expression on her face. She had been leaning against a veranda post and now she straightened up, a funny, scared look in her eyes.
“Larry,” she said, “I—”
“You were going to your room,” Larry reminded her coldly. “Please do not let me keep you.”
She leaned back, her arms behind her, around the post.
“What were you going to tell me?” she asked.
“I forget. Are you going or aren’t you?”
“I can’t,” she said in a muffled voice. “You can’t? You’re being silly.
What’s keeping you?”
“These.” She turned slightly and Larry’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw that her slender wrists were securely handcuffed behind the post.
And sitting on the veranda railing, legs crossed, was Tim.
“Did you do this?” Larry demanded. Tim nodded. “I had to do something to keep her from leaving. Do your stuff.”
The angry glint in Larry’s eyes faded slowly. There was good sense in what Tim said.
“Scat, chum,” he said. “I can take over from here.”
Tim moved away. “I found Pat and Mike, by the way.”
“Where?”
“In the garden.” Tim shook his head sadly. “A woodpecker got ’em.”
“Excellent,” Larry said contentedly. He took the girl in his arms.
“This is a terrible advantage to take,” he smiled, “but there’s nothing much you can do about it.”
He kissed her soundly and was not too surprised that she kissed him back. She closed her eyes and sighed.