“Hello, Malone,” a deep, masculine voice said. “Sorry we startled you.”

She was still very pale, but her face had been washed and freshly made up. Her honey blonde hair was smooth over her shoulders. She wore a nurse’s uniform and white shoes and stockings, but the dark mink coat was over the uniform.

Malone sneezed and said, “You’re in a hospital. You’re an illusion. Go away. Vanish. Scat!”

Jerry Kane laughed.

“And you, Kane,” Malone said, breathing hard. “How did you get in here?”

“We came in through the back door,” Kane said. “Very easy, since it’s our own house.”

“Our—?” the little lawyer exploded.

He glared at Jerry Kane. The gambler, racketeer, nightclub owner, and promoter was a big, rangy, yet strangely graceful man. His tanned face could be hard as nails, or it could be ingratiatingly friendly and smiling, and it had an old scar down one cheek. His business deals had always kept him inside the law—but just inside. He owned the night club in which Doris Dawn sang. His reputation with women was worse than Malone’s.

The other occupants of the room had been momentarily struck speechless. Now, everyone spoke at once. All questions. All the same questions.

“I discovered,” Doris Dawn said, “I had to get out of that hospital. I had to. Because there was a chance to find out—something. It was very easy, really. I bribed a nurse to call Jerry. He bribed the policeman by my door to go away. And he brought me a nurse’s uniform, and all I had to do was put it on and walk out.”

“And,” the big man said, “before coming here we drove across the state line and were married. Meet Mrs. Kane.”

Young Bob Spencer cried, “Doris!” in an anguished voice.

“You fool!” Jack Apt said.

She paid no attention. “This time, no one’s going to stop me—finding out. It would be better, honestly, if you all just waited here for me.” Suddenly a little gun flashed in her hand. “But don’t try to stop me.”

“Doris—baby—” Jerry Kane gasped. And then, “How the hell did you get my gun?”

“I took it out of your pocket,” she said calmly. Her white little face was hard as ice. “If anyone tries to stop me or follow me, I’ll shoot. No matter who. Even if it’s Jerry, and I love Jerry. I always have.” Suddenly she was gone.

Before anyone could move, little Jack Apt said, “Too bad you married her, Kane. Because she isn’t going to inherit the money after all.”

Kane swore bitterly and raced for the door. Suddenly everyone in the room was racing for the door. Malone caught up, out on the sidewalk, just as a car roared away down the street. Kane’s car. With Doris driving. Other cars roared away. Bob Spencer’s roadster. Two police cars.