Rainey ran across the room, stretching out eager, detaining hands.
“See here!” he begged. “We can fix this!”
“Fix it?” said the reporter. “Not with me, you can’t.” He turned to the door and found Garrett barring his exit. He halted, fell back on his heels, and straightened his shoulders. For the first time they saw how tall he was.
“Get out of my way,” he said. The butler hesitated and fell back. Lee walked into the hall.
“I’ll leave you gentlemen to fight it out among you,” he said. “It’s a better story than I thought.”
As he descended to the floor below, the men remained motionless. The face of Judge Gaylor seemed to have grown older. When the front door closed, he turned and searched the countenance of each of his companions. The butler had dropped into a chair muttering and beating his fist into his open palm.
Gaylor’s voice was hardly louder than a whisper. “Is this true?” he asked.
Like a cur dog pinned in a corner and forced to fight, Rainey snarled at him evilly. “Of course it’s true,” he said.
“You’ve let these people see him!” cried Gaylor. “After I forbade it? After I told you what would happen?”
“He would see them,” Rainey answered hotly. “Twas better I chose them than—”