 Had the gun barrel not became extremely hot and burned Higgins, what would have likely happened during his standoff?
CALL HIM NEMESIS By DONALD E. WESTLAKE Criminals, beware; the Scorpion is on your trail! [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] There was Mr. Featherhall at his desk, refusing to okay a personal check from a perfect stranger. There was Charlie Casale, getting ten dollars dimes, six dollars nickels and four dollars pennies for his father in the grocery store down the street. There was Mrs. Dolly Daniels, withdrawing money from her savings account again. From the ground up, they all wore scuffy black shoes, baggy-kneed and unpressed khaki trousers, brown cracked-leather jackets over flannel shirts, white handkerchiefs over the lower half of their faces and gray-and-white check caps pulled low over their eyes. The man who had spoken withdrew a small but mean-looking thirty-two calibre pistol from his jacket pocket. One of the others took the pistol away from Mister Anderson, the guard, and said to him in a low voice, "Think about retirement, my friend." The third one, who carried a black satchel like a doctor's bag, walked quickly around behind the teller's counter and started filling it with money. The man who had first spoken herded the tellers, Mr. Featherhall and the customers all over against the back wall, while the second man stayed next to Mr. Anderson and the door. Meanwhile, Mr. Anderson went scooting out the front door and running down the street toward the police station in the next block, shouting, "Help! She fell unconscious to the floor, and all three of them ran out of the bank to the car out front, in which sat a very nervous-looking fourth man, gunning the engine. Two police cars came driving down the block and a half from the precinct house to the bank, and the car with the four robbers in it lurched away from the curb and drove straight down the street toward the police station. The police cars and the getaway car passed one another, with everybody shooting like the ships in pirate movies. There was so much confusion that it looked as though the bank robbers were going to get away after all. And all the police went running down there to clap handcuffs on the robbers when they crawled dazedly out of their car. "Well," said Pauling, "it was a stolen car. "What I can't figure out," said Stevenson, "is exactly what made those tires do that.
 The police would have had to force entry into his home and take him into custody.
 Higgins' wife would have eventually been able to convince him to surrender.  The police would have eventually given up on their suspect and left the scene.  The police would have had to force entry into his home and take him into custody.  Higgins' sister would have eventually been able to convince him to surrender.