“We must blind him still farther and contrive to get his coin. That done, we must get rid of him and bolt for Europe.” “Get rid of him?” “Exactly.” “What do you mean?” “Listen!” Kate Crandall’s voice took on more vicious accents. “He has turned all of his fortune into cash and has it in a deposit drawer downtown.” “Well?” “Providing I will marry him and go with him to live in Europe, he will get the bundle of money from the safety deposit in order to take it with us.” “Well?” Dacey repeated grimly. “Here, now, is the point,” Kate went on. “The Carters have us hard pressed, but they do not yet suspect that Sheldon and Cyrus Darling are one and the same.” “Surely not.” “They are the only persons on earth who really believe that Darling is alive. No one else suspects it, even.” “Surely not,” Dacey again repeated. “If we were to kill him, then, and get rid of his body, who the devil would ever suspect the crime? Only the Carters! But they could not prove anything. They could not even show that Darling did not kill himself. He’s as good as dead already, as far as that goes, and they can never learn where Moran got the body that was substituted for Darling at the time of the supposed suicide.” “By Heaven, Kate, you’ve got all the makings of a devil in you,” said Dacey, with a growl. “I’m only showing you the way,” Kate Crandall replied. “It can be done easily enough. It’s the only way by which we can make Darling produce the coin.” “What’s your plan?” “We’ll keep Carter and Garvan here till the trick is turned. We’ll fake a marriage ceremony with Darling. That done and his money on his person, we’ll end him forever and bolt with the coin.” “I see,” Dacey nodded. “When Carter and Garvan are liberated, they’ll have only a guess coming to them,” Kate added. “They cannot prove that Floyd and I were one. They cannot show that Sheldon and Darling were one. All they can do, Jim, will be to look wise and guess at the whole business. It can be done like breaking sticks. What do you say?” “Kill Darling, eh?” queried Dacey. “Why not? There is no risk. He’s dead already--in the eye of the law.” “That’s true.” “We surely can turn the trick and get away without serious suspicion.” “It does look so, Kate, I’ll admit,” Dacey thoughtfully agreed. How this enterprising colloquy would have ended, and at what final conclusion the plotters would have arrived, will never be known in this world. Chick Carter, glancing at the crouching man, saw him withdraw from his position and cautiously descend the cellar stairs. Chick suspected a genuine suicide, and he stole quickly from his concealment and noiselessly followed him. When part way down the stairs, he again discovered his man. Sheldon was tearing the disguise from his face in frantic haste, and was casting it fiercely upon the floor. Chick waited and watched him.