The staircase was not thirty feet away. There was one small light burning in the room below, but the stairs themselves were dark, reflecting no light from above or below.
While Ferret and Major were completing their preliminary work, a splotch of blackness slowly emerged from the stairway. A long silhouette appeared upon the marble wall. It flitted into the gloom beyond the range of the light by the vault, unobserved by either Major or Ferret.
Each man picked up a neatly arranged bundle of money. The loads were hoisted to their shoulders. Major went first, then Ferret. When the stoop-shouldered man reached his companion, Major pointed officiously to the open panel.
"Slide along, Ferret," he said, walking toward the stairway. "Take your bundle and come back for mine. I'll bring more down."
"Right," said Ferret.
"When I get to the last, I'll wait for you upstairs. I want you to be there when I close the vault. We'll look it over together and rearrange all that's left."
"Right."
Major's tone, unconsciously a bit louder than it should have been, was audible at the top of the stairs, as well as in the room below.
Returning to the vault, Major continued to arrange the bundles. He strictly avoided certain packages. The work of rifling was confined to one portion of the vault. Piles of crisp notes on the right side were ignored.
Major did not hurry in his work. He was checking bank-note numbers as he proceeded.