“Both—there ain’t any both!” cried Toby. “They are one and the same, Graff and Devoll. He’s a nut, a loon, if ever there was one. He’s got the criminal bee in his bonnet, and——”
“Wait!” Chick sternly checked him, suppressing his surprise at the startling disclosure. “Devoll is back of the whole business, I know, but what started him into crime?”
“He’s a nut, gone dippy, I tell you,” Toby forcibly insisted. “Besides, he has doctored the hospital books, stolen some of the funds, and has turned to crime to get square.”
“Oh, that’s it, eh?”
“He began playing two parts a year ago, as a cover for his jobs, and he rang in three or four of us to aid him, whacking up part of the plunder with us. He’s infernally crafty and clever. He poses as Graff mornings and as Devoll the rest of the time. He lets only Shannon into his private room in the hospital. He comes and goes like an evil genius, and that’s just what he is. He has discovered a narcotic that instantly dulls the brain and causes sleep till something else is given. He has invented a noiseless revolver that shoots a globule of poisonous vapor so deadly that it instantly kills, and——”
“That’s what killed Todd?”
“Yes. He was short in his accounts with his brokers, but they haven’t discovered it yet. He joined our gang, hoping to get even, but kicked against robbing Mrs. Thurlow. He was hoping to marry her daughter. He threatened to expose Devoll unless he cut out that job.”
“And Devoll killed him to prevent it?”
“That’s what. He saw Frank Paulding going to visit a client, and he knew that he and Todd were rivals. So he thought he could incriminate Paulding and escape suspicion. He telephoned Todd to come there and wait in the corridor. Then he watched from his office till he saw a chance to kill him with his infernal weapon. He then——”
“Enough of that,” Chick interrupted. “How many are with you in this gang?”