Simon settled his fingers on the door knob as if it had been a wafer-shelled egg. He began to turn it with micrometric gentleness.
"You bastards," Kinglake said. "What have you done with them?"
"You'll see for yourself, when you join them in just a few minutes."
"So you're Maris, are you? I should have known it."
"A pardonable oversight, Lieutenant. But you may still call me Joe, if it will make you feel more comfortable."
Simon waited through an infinitesimal pause, with the door handle fully turned.
Kinglake said: "I guess you can have oversights too. You aren't getting away with anything, Joe. I've got men outside—"
The low hard chuckle of Maris came through the door.
"An old bluff, Lieutenant, but always worth trying. I know that you came alone. Fritzie was watching you outside, and we made sure of that before we let you break in. Now if you'll be very careful about holding your arms up while Blatt takes your gun—"
That was the pleasantly dramatic moment when it seemed right to the Saint to throw the door wide open.