“Wait!” blurted Maddox. “What are you going to do?”
“Turn you over to the police,” replied Mitchell, his hand on the receiver. “You will be charged with the abduction of Robert Galvin!”
A CHAOS of thoughts swept through Bob Maddox’s brain. The abduction of Robert Galvin! What of the murders of Hodgson and Betty Mandell? He was responsible for both!
Desperation seized him. It would be better to die now than later.
As Zachary Mitchell lifted the receiver, Maddox threw himself frantically upon the old lawyer. The gun barked. The shot came too late. Maddox thrust Mitchell’s arm aside just as the lawyer pulled the trigger.
They grappled now, and all the advantage lay with the younger man. He held Mitchell’s wrist in a powerful clutch.
He was sure that the shot had been fired before the downstairs operator had answered the telephone, for he heard a clicking begin while they were struggling.
They were grimly silent, for Maddox had driven his hand into Mitchell’s mouth and had thus prevented an outcry. Now the old man began to weaken. Maddox flung him violently across the room.
Mitchell tumbled as he struck the wall. The revolver clattered on the floor. Maddox leaped to the telephone and placed the receiver on its hook.
He turned, just in time to see Mitchell crawling for the gun. It was almost within the old man’s grasp.