“I watered one of your ferns with the coffee Haiuto handed me,” The Phantom explained. “A cruel way to treat an inoffensive plant, I’ll admit, but there was nothing else handy. Mind if I have a look?”
Lowering the weapon a trifle, he picked up the sheet of paper Mr. Fairspeckle had just drawn from the machine. Watching the older man out of the tail of an eye, he read the typewritten lines:
In accordance with my promise, I herewith announce the names of the seven gentlemen whom by certain means at my disposal I shall persuade to hand over half of their respective fortunes to me.
Then followed a list of seven names, each one suggestive of untold wealth and vast influence in the financial world, and The Phantom smiled as he noticed that W. Rufus Fairspeckle was one of them. By way of signature Mr. Shei’s name was typed at the bottom of the announcement.
“Not bad,” commented The Phantom. “By including yourself among the seven victims you make sure that no suspicion becomes attached to the fair name of W. Rufus Fairspeckle. Anyhow, since you are one of the richest men in town, it would look rather odd if your name were omitted. Congratulations, Mr. Shei.”
The other looked stolidly into the muzzle of the automatic. The Phantom’s sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to have paralyzed his tongue.
“You could save a lot of time by taking carbon copies,” suggested The Phantom, riffling the sheets lying beside the machine. “You will need a hundred or more to plaster the town effectively. I understand now why you took that long walk this morning. There’s nothing like having a pleasant pastime when one can’t sleep. What I don’t understand is how you meant to put your plan into effect.”
A sickly smile cruised about Mr. Fairspeckle’s bloodless lips.
“Oh, I don’t expect you to let me in on the secret,” The Phantom went on. “With your past performances in mind, I have no doubt you would have executed your threat in a manner becoming your genius. There’s only one thing about your achievements that has disappointed me. I don’t see why you had to copy my methods so slavishly. For a while I was almost certain that Mr. Shei was one of my former associates, and that’s why——” He checked himself on the point of explaining why he had come out of hiding. “Couldn’t you have shown a little more originality?”
An inarticulate mumble came from Mr. Fairspeckle’s lips. His fingers fidgeted nervously over his knees.