Irving Wallace - The Golden Room

The blow shattered the vase.

Clearly, it also shattered part of Dr Holmes's head.

Dr Holmes crumpled, and then pitched unconscious to the office floor. He lay spreadeagled between Bruce and Alan.

Losing no time, Bruce dropped to his knees, released the Colt.45 from the doctor's slack fingers, and shoved it into his own pocket. Turning the doctor over, he could see that Holmes was totally unconscious and fresh bright blood was matting his hair.

'He's out,' Bruce gasped.

'Thank God,' said Alan breathlessly.

With difficulty, Bruce came to his feet. 'The girls…' he croaked. 'Let's get them out of there before something goes wrong – before they die of fright.'

Alan was already on the run, out of the office and heading for the blank wall. Alan searched desperately for the button to the sliding door. At last he found it, and pressed hard.

The portion of the wall slid wide open.

Alan peered inside the room.

Cathleen and Karen were standing in front of the examination table, clinging to each other as they waited for death. At the sound of the sliding door, they both gazed with disbelief at the opening, as if they were seeing an apparition.

'Oh, Alan… Alan… it's you,' Cathleen moaned. She pulled free of Karen and stumbled towards Alan as he entered the death chamber. She threw her arms around him and he hugged and kissed her.

Bruce was in the room now, advancing on the shaken Karen. His arms went around her tightly and his mouth found her lips. He kissed her over and over again until she could scarcely breathe.

'How… how did you get here?' Karen wanted to know.

'Aunt Minna sent us to bring you back,' replied Bruce. 'Dr Holmes tried to bluff us into believing you weren't here, that you'd left, but we were suspicious of him. We managed to hide out and discover that he was trying to kill you. Then we overcame him.'

Cathleen tore away from Alan. 'Where is Dr Holmes?' she asked, still fearful. 'Where is that maniac?'

'Come along,' said Bruce.

The four of them emerged from the death chamber.

They crossed the central hall to the doctor's office. Stretched out on the floor, still unconscious, was Dr Holmes.

Bruce looked at Alan. 'We've got to lock him up,' said Bruce. 'Help me, Alan. We'll carry him into the gas chamber. After we close the sliding door, we'll call the police.'

They both bent down, Bruce taking Dr Holmes by the armpits and Alan taking his legs, and they carried him away, as the two women, with hatred in their eyes, watched his body go.

Minutes later, the four of them were gathered in the doctor's office.

Bruce's gaze met Alan's. 'You know what I'd like to do,' said Bruce. 'Give the bastard a taste of his own medicine. But we can't do that.'

'Why not?' said Alan furiously.

'We just can't. We can't do what Holmes planned to do – commit murder. We've got enough evidence to see that justice is done under the law. I'm calling the police right now.'

Rapidly, Bruce made his call to the police station, explained what had taken place, and when the police captain promised to send someone over, he hung up and turned to the two women. 'Are you feeling any better?'

Karen and Cathleen nodded uncertainly.

'You'd better sit down, both of you,' Bruce ordered. 'Since you left the Club, a great many things have happened. Alan, you start it off.'

Alan feasted his eyes on Cathleen. 'Darling, we're getting married this very evening. My father gave us his blessing.'

'What?' exclaimed Cathleen, half out of her chair.

Alan went to her and kissed her, and settled her down. 'It was the price your Aunt Minna demanded to open the Everleigh Club again.'

Karen was in mild shock. 'Minna bargained to open the Everleigh Club again? After all the work the mayor went to -to shut it down? How can that be?'

Alan gestured to Bruce. 'You take over from here, Bruce.'

Grinning, Bruce recounted the astonishing events of the past hours.

'The prince of Prussia arrived in Chicago this morning. The mayor, Mr Armbruster, and an entire reception committee were there to greet him. What the prince did was to throw the mayor's complete agenda out the window. He would have none of it. He was very forthright. He told everyone what he did want. The only place he wanted to see in Chicago was the Everleigh Club.'

It dawned on Karen first. 'Oh, no!' she blurted, and began to laugh. 'And the Everleigh Club was out of business, shut down, closed.'

'Exactly,' said Bruce. 'Well, the mayor was on the spot. So was Alan's father, who wants to be our ambassador to Germany. They both knew that they couldn't disappoint him. They simply couldn't deny his one request. So the mayor and Mr Armbruster agreed, as one, that the Everleigh Club must be opened. But there were only two persons who could do that.'

'Aunt Minna and Aunt Aida,' said Cathleen.

'Yes – and both were in jail,' said Bruce. 'You can bet they were freed at once. Then Minna drove her hard bargain. She and Aida would get the Club in shape and throw it open for the prince (/"they could host the prince's welcoming banquet in the Club, and if Cathleen and Alan were allowed to be married there before the festivities.' Bruce grinned at his sister. 'Mayor Harrison and Mr Armbruster offered no opposition. The Everleigh Club is being readied right now and you, Cathleen and Alan, are going to tie the knot there this evening.'

That moment the front doorbell rang and continued to ring, and there was a hammering at the door.

'It can't be the police so fast,' Bruce said. 'Who the devil can that be?'

Cautiously opening the front door a,crack and then flinging it wide, Bruce found himself confronting a man in a braid-trimmed police uniform, another burly man in a business suit, and five policemen in plain blue.

'Who are you?' the man in the street clothes wanted to know.

Taken aback, Bruce announced, 'I'm Bruce Lester. What are you doing here?'

'I'm William Pinkerton, a private investigator working for Miss Minna Everleigh. You must be the nephew. This is Chief of Police Francis O'Neill. The other men are his officers.' Pinkerton swallowed. 'We've come about the ladies -Cathleen Lester and Karen Grant – are they all right?'

'They're safe now,' said Bruce. 'Come in and see for yourselves.'

Bruce led the seven men into the office. With the chief's help, he introduced everyone.

The chief of police looked around, as if missing someone. 'Where's Dr Herman Holmes?' he wanted to know.

'He's unconscious in the next room,' Bruce said. 'Alan and I jumped him just as he was about to kill the women with gas. Holmes had a gun. He shot at Alan and missed, and was about to shoot again, when I smashed him on the head with a heavy vase and knocked him out. We locked him in the next room.'

'Wait a minute,' said the chief. 'Are you sure he's not dead?'

'For all I know, he might be. You want to find out?'"

'Immediately,' said the chief.

'Let's go,' said Bruce. 'I'll open up the next room.' While Alan, the chief, and Pinkerton followed him out of the office, Bruce went straight to the rubber tree at the far end of the blank wall. 'Holmes has a button concealed back here. You push it and it automatically opens up a portion of the wall that leads you into an airtight room – where Holmes intended to gas Karen and Cathleen to death. Look.'

Bruce worked his arm behind the branches of deep-green foliage, found the button, and pressed it.

With only the slightest rumble, a portion of the wall slid smoothly to one side.

Bruce pointed into the room. 'There's Dr Holmes on the table the way we left him. I think he's still unconscious.'

The chief grunted. 'Let's hope he's not dead. Let me have a look.'

Bruce and the others stood aside as Chief of Police O'Neill entered the room by himself. He walked straight to Dr Holmes's inert body, peered down at it, saw the eyes closed, the face almost bloodless. Then he lifted a wrist and felt for a pulse.