Lowry nodded. “Yes, he’s all right. Just a bit the worse for wear. If I’d slugged him a little harder I guess I would have saved him a lot of the trouble he’s going to run into now. I’ll see if I can manage to fix him up a little.” He went into the bathroom and returned a moment later with a wet towel. Kneeling, he began to bathe Carrol’s head.

“Get him a drink, won’t you, Terry?” he said. “It’ll perk him up.”

Terry poured a glass of the rye and brought it in. Lowry put it to Carrol’s lips. In a little while Carrol began to stir. A low moan came from his wide mouth. Then he lay still again.

“He’s out again,” Terry said.

“He’ll come out of it after a while,” Lowry remarked. “Though probably Brady will have him this way again in a very short time.”

Lowry took a pillow from the bed and put it on the floor under Carrol’s head.

Standing up, he said, “That’s more than he’d have done for us. But they call me big-hearted Lowry, you know.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, now you do. We can leave him alone. He’ll get along all right.”

They sat down in the living room again.

“Do you think he’d have shot me?” Terry asked.

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“I guess I was lucky.”

“Luckier than some,” Lowry said.

Within an hour, they heard the wail of a siren outside.

“There they are,” Lowry said. He remained seated without making a move to get up.

Brady, followed by Harrison and Dr. Clayton, came in through the open door. Two uniformed policemen followed them. Brady looked suspiciously from Lowry to Terry. “Well, what’s it about?” he snapped.

Lowry looked up at Dr. Clayton and said, “I hope you don’t mind the fact that we made ourselves comfortable in your place, Doctor. Your rye is excellent. We were sure you’d understand.”

“Of course,” Clayton said magnanimously. He favored Lowry with a warm, friendly smile. “I don’t understand about this robbery,” he said. “Just how did you happen on it?”

Lowry studied the doctor’s handsome, dignified features.

“We were taking a drive,” he said. “We came down this way to have a look at the ocean in this lovely weather. And we saw this man breaking into the house. I’m a very nosy person, you know, Dr. Clayton. It’s something of a professional trait, you might say. And so I just had to see what was happening.”

“You’re telling us,” Brady growled unpleasantly. “Where is he?”

“Inside.”

24

24

Lowry and Terry followed the others to the bedroom. Carrol was still sprawled out, seemingly sleeping in utter tranquility. “You slugged him,” Brady said immediately to Lowry, in tones of reproach.