make an arrest," Lynch said sneeringly. "Produce
your proof."

"I'll introduce you to our star witness," the policeman retorted.

He crossed to the door and unlocked it. Penny Nichols and six
policemen entered.

At sight of the girl the four crooks were taken aback. But they
quickly covered their confusion.

"Can you identify these men?" Penny was asked.

"Yes, I can," she answered. "They are the ones who locked me in the
closet and then set fire to the building."

"Set fire to the building?" Hoges echoed. "That's a lie."

"Shut up," Lynch growled.

"Here are the pictures which I saved as evidence," Penny continued,
displaying the original Rembrandt and one of the copies.

"See here, this girl is stark crazy," Cron interposed. "I don't know
where she obtained these pictures, but no one could be more delighted
to have the Rembrandt recovered than myself. I am well connected at
the museum and if you will only call the officials there they will
assure you that this girl is making a most unjust accusation."

"You have pleasant companions," a policeman remarked, nodding in
Lynch's direction.

The four men were lined up and searched. Only Cron was found to have a
gun.

"You can't get me on that," he sneered. "I have a permit to carry a
weapon."

The forty thousand dollars was brought to light.

"Quite a nice haul," a policeman commented, examining the roll of bills.

"You can't arrest a man for having money in his pocket," Lynch said
harshly. "You don't find it marked do you?"

"The truth is, you have no case against us," Cron snapped. "It's only
this silly girl's word against ours. No doubt she's been reading
detective stories!"

"I can furnish an alibi for the entire day," Lynch added.

"Unless this ridiculous charge is dropped I warn you I'll sue for false
arrest," Cron went on furiously.

The officers paid no heed to the talk, yet they knew that their case
against the four was not water-tight. As Cron had said, it was a
matter of Penny Nichols' testimony against the four. True, she had the
Rembrandt as evidence, but it might be difficult to prove that the four
men had been involved in the theft. They had painful recollections of
other cases against Max Lynch which had dissolved like soap bubbles in
a wind. The man had no equal at producing unexpected witnesses who for
a sum of money would provide him with a complete alibi. His lawyer,
employed at a yearly salary, was as clever as