It lacked five minutes of noon when Kennedy and I dashed up before Martin’s and dismissed our taxi-cab.

A remarkable scene greeted us as we entered the famous jewelry shop.  Involuntarily I drew back.  Squarely in front of us a man had suddenly raised a revolver and leveled it at us.

“Don’t!” cried a familiar voice.  “That is Mr. Kennedy!”

Just then, from a little knot of people, Elaine Dodge sprang forward with a cry and seized the gun.

Kennedy turned to her, apparently not half so much concerned about the automatic that yawned at him as about the anxiety of the pretty girl who had intervened.  The too eager plainclothesman lowered the gun sheepishly.

Sturtevant Martin was a typical society business man, quietly but richly dressed.  He was inclined to be pompous and affected a pair of rather distinguished looking side whiskers.

In the excitement I glanced about hurriedly.  There were two or three policemen in the shop and several plainclothesmen, some armed with formidable looking sawed-off shot guns.

Directly in front of me was a sign, tacked up on a pillar, which read, “This store will be closed at noon today.  Martin & Co.”

All the customers were gone.  In fact the clerks had had some trouble in clearing the shop, as many of them expressed not only surprise but exasperation at the proceeding.  Nevertheless the clerks had politely but insistently ushered them out.

Martin himself was evidently very nervous and very much alarmed.  Indeed no one could blame him for that.  Merely to have been singled out by this amazing master criminal was enough to cause panic.  Already he had engaged detectives, prepared for whatever might happen, and they had advised him to leave the diamonds in the counter, clear the store, and let the crooks try anything, if they dared.

I fancied that he was somewhat exasperated at his daughter’s presence, too, but could see that her explanation of Elaine’s and Perry Bennett’s interest in the Clutching Hand had considerably mollified him.  He had been talking with Bennett as we came in and evidently had a high respect for the young lawyer.

Just back of us, and around the corner, as we came in, we had noticed a limousine which had driven up.  Three faultlessly attired dandies had entered a doorway down the street, as we learned afterwards, apparently going to a fashionable tailor’s which occupied the second floor of the old-fashioned building, the first floor having been renovated and made ready for renting.  Had we been there a moment sooner we might have seen, I suppose, that one of them nodded to a taxicab driver who was standing at a public hack stand a few feet up the block.  The driver nodded unostentatiously back to the men.

In spite of the excitement, Kennedy quietly examined the show case, which was, indeed, a veritable treasure store of brilliants.  Then with a keen scrutinizing glance he looked over the police and detectives gathered around.  There was nothing to do now but wait, as the detectives had advised.