Everyone waves in terror. The governor’s mouth slowly drops wider open, and he lapses into a stunned silence. Willa Rossouw’s hand grasps her chest, for even she did not expect this turn of events. Jacques de la Fay tries to look just as surprised as the rest of the company. Joseph Grattan feels his blood flowing faster through his veins. A glow of ferocity rises within him, like a wild animal suddenly pouncing on its prey. In the silence that follows, after the strange voice clapped through the room like a whip, his muscles stiffen, and he slowly rises from his chair, but he sinks back down when a gun barrel swings in his direction.
D’Arcy Cunningham is the first to express his feelings. He jumps up and with a desperate gesture throws his arms up in the air.
“The Masked Robber!” he scre
