A LONG silence pervaded the dungeon after the departure of The Shadow. At last, the tension was relieved. Three disappointed men looked at one another.
Parker Noyes showed misery and disappointment. But Froman and Motkin glared with sudden hatred as they faced each other. For a moment, it appeared that they were about to fling themselves into conflict.
Then Noyes intervened.
“We are beaten,” he declared, in a trembling tone. “There is no use in further quarrel. Let us leave here, Froman, and go our ways, glad that we still live.”
Froman shrugged his shoulders. He seemed appeased by the lawyer’s words. He bowed and walked calmly toward the door.
“Come,” he said, shortly. “We will go.”
Motkin and Noyes advanced and stared curiously while Froman brought a long, sharp point of metal from his pocket and thrust it into a tiny hole in the center of the knob on the steel door.
Something clicked within. The barrier moved upward. Froman laughed in a disgruntled tone.
“This releases the door without turning the knob,” he said. “The bomb is set. To turn that knob would mean instant death.”
He held the door up and motioned to Parker Noyes to walk through. The lawyer stepped from the dungeon. Ivan Motkin followed.