DR. TAM looked up from his desk and studied the two nondescript Orientals who faced him. Though they were of mixed lineage, Tam could see that they were of j.a.panese strain, this pair that had been captured by The Shadow.
Being familiar with the j.a.panese language, Tam put questions in that tongue. They replied volubly under the nudge of guns that bulged from blackness behind them. The fact that The Shadow was still present caused them to magnify his prowess.
In the opinion of the prisoners, The Shadow was a Kitsumi-tsuki, a being who controlled the foxes and made them do his bidding. So powerful was The Shadow, that he might even be Inari, the fox G.o.d, in person.
When that outburst ended, Tam pretended to cla.s.s the prisoners as LiHuang"s former servants. Sternly he asked if they had delivered the kogo to Li Huang. Since kogo was the j.a.panese term for a small box with a lid, Tam"s question was an implication that these men had personally seen to Li Huang"s death by giving him the jewel case that contained the poison lizard.
When both protested innocence, Tam said he would believe them if they told him where to find the Black Dragon"s kura, or hidden treasure room. They said they couldn"t, but they did know where the Dragon Clan would meet - later tonight.
When the pair had given the necessary details, Tam summoned his own men and had them remove the prisoners. Whereupon, blackness laughed, and materialized itself into the form of The Shadow. Bowing to his cloaked friend, Tam declared that he would send men to raid the meeting place, but The Shadow had a better plan.
"I shall go alone," he declared. "The whole spirit of the clan hinges upon the Black Dragon. Once his boasts are nullified, his followers will desert him.
I proved that with the pair I captured."
Tam frowned. In whispered tone, The Shadow a.s.sured him that this plan would work. Though he nodded, Tam retained his frown because of something else.
"You were missing for quite a while, Ying Ko," reminded Tam. "During that time, Steve Trask disappeared. Your contact man, Burbank, phoned me and said your agents were unable to find him."
"Tell Burbank to send them to Sauber"s," ordered The Shadow. "That is where Trask would go to look for trouble. They should be able to keep him from finding it."
The Shadow"s own destination was the meeting place that the prisoners had named and described to Dr. Tam. If ever there had seemed a false trail, this was it, for it seemed the last place in New York where the Dragon Clan would dare to a.s.semble. That fact, in itself, convinced The Shadow that the trail was real.
THE spot in question was the old building directly across the dead-end street from the Norland Museum, a structure almost under the shelter of the great bridge that spanned the East River!
It happened that The Shadow could understand the Black Dragon"s purpose in choosing such a rendezvous. Had things gone as the Dragon planned, this place would have been perfect. The police would have found Norland dead, presumably murdered by Steve, who in turn was to have died at the hands of the museum attendants. The Dragon had counted on the police releasing those killers on the ground of justified action.
Instead, the treacherous attendants had met their own doom from The Shadow.
That fact, however, had closed the case more definitely. With Steve alive and at large, the police were spreading their search, which meant that the Dragon Clan could still meet at its chosen place.
Nearing the building in question, The Shadow approached it from the bridge side. Noting activity along the water front, he saw that the police were stilltrying to trace Steve"s course. They had found the rowboat and were making inquiries from persons in the neighborhood.
Soon, the police would be gone, but The Shadow"s plans called for immediate investigation of the premises where the meeting was to be held. Having brought along a black bag filled with varied equipment, The Shadow adopted a unique method of entering the three-story building.
Instead of approaching by the street, he took an obscure route leading up to the bridge itself. Gliding along a deserted footwalk by the rail, The Shadow reached a spot directly above the building that squatted below.
From his bag, The Shadow produced a cylindrical object like a huge measuring tape, a dozen inches across. He hooked the device to the outside rail of the bridge. Gripping a small stirrup that projected from the cylinder, The Shadow swung himself across the rail and dropped into s.p.a.ce.
There was a weird whine as a thin but powerful wire uncoiled from the cylinder. Like a living spider, The Shadow dropped in dangling fashion to the rooftop more than fifty feet below. The process was very simple, except for the outward swing that was needed to clear the s.p.a.ce between the bridge and building, which were not quite on a vertical line.
Nevertheless, The Shadow made it with a comfortable margin. Nor was his drop too rapid, for the coil was braked by a mechanism in the cylinder.
Indeed, The Shadow spent less than half of the wire"s length in reaching his destination. Settled on the roof, he released the stirrup and the wire drew it upward with a powerful spring action. The cylinder itself could be retrieved later, after this adventure was completed.
From the bag, The Shadow took a portable jimmy that fitted on the end of an automatic. He pried open a trapdoor and descended into the forgotten structure that had once been an office building. When he reached the second floor, he found that the prisoners hadn"t lied to Dr. Tam.
The stage was set for the meeting. There was an outer office, square and of sizable proportions, with ornamental screens along its walls. Since there were several of these, the screen behind the Dragon"s throne did not look suspicious.
Knowing the throne"s trick, The Shadow sat down and pressed the arms. As he tilted back, the deceptive gla.s.s slid down to produce its mirror effect. The back of the throne revolved with the central panel of the screen, and The Shadow arrived in an inner office which was quite dark.
Through the rear window The Shadow saw a fire escape, the convenient route which the Black Dragon would use. So The Shadow descended silently and reached the window of another empty suite directly below the meeting place.
A whispered laugh was absorbed by darkness as The Shadow entered the lower window, carrying his bag. This first-floor office would serve as his own headquarters until the Dragon Clan arrived. There were certain preparations to be made, after which The Shadow could move about the neighborhood as he chose, since the police were giving up their hunt along the water front.
A final duel was impending between The Shadow and the Black Dragon - a duel wherein skill in mysterious ways would const.i.tute the weapons! MEANWHILE, Steve Trask was exactly where The Shadow expected him to be, outside Sauber"s house in Gotham Court. Steve was just about to try the front door when a big car pulled up outside the archway. Steve dropped quickly from sight below the steps, because he recognized the car as Weston"s.
At least it couldn"t be the spurious vehicle belonging to the Black Dragon!
That false car had been taken into custody, so it const.i.tuted a menace no longer.
With Commissioner Weston was Miles Fenmore. The pair were admitted to Sauber"s house by Pelly, the secretary. As soon as the door closed, Steve ascended the steps and tried the doork.n.o.b. It proved unlatched, so Steve entered.
The ground floor was dimly lighted, and there wasn"t a servant in sight.
Steve moved stealthily toward a stairway, then rapidly sought the darkness behind it as he heard footsteps coming from the second floor. Looking up through the banister rails, Steve saw Weston and Fenmore coming down, with Sauber right behind them.
In his usual style, Sauber was protesting ignorance of anything and everything that concerned the Black Dragon. He even doubted that the fray in Greenwich Village could have anything to do with the Dragon problem. His argument on that score was still the same; the whole business of the Black Dragon was a myth.
Neither Weston nor Fenmore offered comment, but their faces showed annoyance. At the front door, they met Cardona coming up the steps and the inspector went along with them. Steve heard Weston telling Fenmore that he"d drop him off at his house, then the three were on their way to the commissioner"s car, without even saying good night to Sauber.
The curt departure didn"t hurt Sauber"s feelings. If anything, it pleased him. Bolting the door, the tawny-faced man turned toward the stairs, and Steve, well-huddled from sight, saw a gleam from narrowed eyes that suited the sly smile of Sauber"s almost lipless mouth.
When Sauber started up the stairs, Steve followed. What worried him was the absence of Pelly. But when Sauber entered an office on the second floor, Steve saw that the secretary was awaiting him. Deep in the office was another door with a large, upright cabinet shoved halfway through it. Steve decided that he could spy best by sneaking around to that adjacent room.
Steve reached his goal easily enough, but found the room stacked with trunks and crates, like other rooms that he pa.s.sed on the way. Evidently the containers held the excess imports that Sauber had ordered on a lavish, wholesale scale when he foresaw that sources would be cut off.
Working in among the crates, Steve saw some with j.a.panese letters and the word "Silk." Others were labeled "Tea" and "Quinine." Most curious of all was a huge box marked "Tapioca," which Steve decided to climb upon so he could look across the cabinet that blocked the connecting door to the office.
To Steve, this emphasis on imports could be the cover-up for Sauber"s real game - the Black Dragon racket. Certainly Sauber must know much about the credits - and cash - of businessmen returned from the Far East. Knowing who had money and who hadn"t, the Black Dragon could stretch his insidious claws into the affairs of anyone he chose.
Such were Steve"s thoughts as he peered across the blocking cabinet in order to spy on Sauber and his secretary, Pelly. Like The Shadow, Steve Trask was seeking the Black Dragon. But through Steve"s brain was surging the idea that he had already found the monster in question - in the person of CarltonSauber!
CHAPTER XVIII.
HIGH-LEVEL BATTLE.
THOSE shrewd eyes of Sauber"s still had their sly look as his gaze ran through some papers that Pelly handed him. Finished with the sheets, Sauber crumpled them, touched them with a match and threw the burning wad into a metal wastebasket.
"Good work, Pelly," complimented Sauber. "These reports tally. Therefore, we can a.s.sume that the men who supplied them are properly informed, since you say that they do not know one another."
What the reports were, Sauber did not specify. While they burned, he opened the drawer of an ornamental desk and brought out a bundle of letters.
"Take these to Fenmore," ordered Sauber. "Tell him I found them after he left. They prove that he is right and I am wrong - that there is a Black Dragon.
It is just as well that I should find it out. A man"s status is always improved when he admits that he can be wrong."
Pelly left with the letters, and Sauber, softly drumming the desk, listened until he heard the front door close. Giving a sly glance at the ashes of the burned report sheets, Sauber brought a j.a.panese puzzle box from the desk drawer.
Finding the secret spring, Sauber pressed it. The box popped open and into Sauber"s hand dropped a jet dragon with tiny, bead-green eyes!
Pocketing the death token, Sauber arose and approached the cabinet in the doorway. Steve slid out of sight to the tapioca crate and listened to a sharp click, so close to his ear that it could only mean that Sauber was opening a secret compartment, deep in the cabinet.
When Steve raised his head for another look, he saw the thing he expected.
Carlton Sauber was putting on a costume that he had taken from the hiding place - a costume that seemed alive because of the writhes it gave. A robe of silver and gold, literally enfolded in the coils of an embroidered dragon absolutely black in hue!
The costume was a perfect disguise when Sauber finished by drawing the hood over his head and face. To Steve"s amazed gaze, the hood became a dragon"s mouth, yawning wide, with an eye-slit between its fangs. More monster than man, Sauber writhed out of the room and down the stairs to the front door!
As fast as he could, Steve followed. From the front door, he saw the dragon shape snaking out through one of the archways. At the other, a cab was pulling to a stop and Steve decided there was no time to lose. Full speed he dashed for the cab, to be met by persons coming from it.
They were friends, The Shadow"s agents!
Myra was with them, and when they motioned Steve inside the cab, he found himself beside the girl. Harry was on the other side, while Cliff and Hawkeye perched in the folding seats. The cab, of course, was Moe"s, and the speedy driver was off like a whippet the moment Steve told what he"d learned about Sauber. Around the corner, Moe spotted a car ahead. It could only be Sauber"s so Moe took up the trail. But they hadn"t gone many blocks before Hawkeye, peering back in his sharp-eyed style, spotted a pair of cars behind them.
The situation was self-evident. Those cars were on hand to eliminate any trailing vehicle such as Moe"s cab!
THE triple chase kept on, threatening to break into something more serious.
When the chase was swinging into an area which Steve identified with the old Norland Museum, things began to happen fast.
Sauber"s car took a turn leading toward a dead-end street. As Moe"s cab darted in pursuit, the trailers roared into the attack. They wanted to overtake the cab before its riders saw where Sauber went, and they would have - if sudden intervention had not come.
From beside a ramp that led up at a right angle to the great bridge across the river, came the sudden jab of guns. Behind those weapons was a black-clad marksman whose presence here was proving of the timeliest sort.
It was The Shadow literally knocking the triple chase apart!
Sauber"s car took a quick dart through an alley. That detour took the dragon-garbed man from the fray, but it was to cost him considerable time in reaching the meeting place, because the alley was a long one, with its outlet well above the bridge.
Recognizing The Shadow as the marksman, Moe performed accordingly. The skillful cabby took the shortest way out, to give The Shadow a chance at the pursuing cars which obviously contained members of the Dragon Clan. Moe"s choice was the ramp leading up to the high-level bridge.
The pursuing cars were almost side by side. One took The Shadow"s first shots and did a roundabout skid, that swung it across the other"s path. To avoid a crash, the driver of the second car veered away and through sheer luck found the ramp. To add to such undeserved fortune, the veering car was shielded by the crippled vehicle and thus escaped The Shadow"s gunfire!
Foreseeing what could happen next, The Shadow did not remain upon the scene. He disappeared like a puff of smoke, off between two buildings to the stairs that he had used before, those long steps leading up to the footwalk of the great bridge.
The Shadow"s route was far the shorter. But when he reached the top, Moe"s cab was already past, with the pursuing car close behind it. Guns were blazing back and forth as The Shadow"s agents opened fire to stave off these members of the Dragon Clan. Far ahead, The Shadow saw a car swerve as it came from the other end of the bridge.
With Dragon servers coming from many places to attend their meeting, luck had again turned their way. The car from the other end was blocking off Moe"s cab to put The Shadow"s agents between two fires!
THE SHADOW had stopped beside the cylinder that contained the coiled wire.
One gun drawn, his other fist was clutching the hand stirrup. Seeing that the cab was being trapped near the center of the bridge, The Shadow dashed along thefootwalk. As he reached the end of the cable length, he hooked the stirrup over a huge bolt-head projecting from the bridge rail.
Then, with both guns drawn, The Shadow opened a rapid fire at the place where two cars had stopped with a cab at an angle in between them. Timely, indeed, was that gunnery. It halted men of the Dragon Clan in their tracks just as they were leaping from their cars to riddle the occupants of the beleaguered cab!
The Dragon fighters scattered, giving The Shadow"s agents a chance for a counterattack. Leaping from the cab, the agents showed their stuff in no uncertain fashion. They were taking over the scene and capturing the two cars in the bargain, but a new brunt was being thrown on The Shadow.
Anxious to reach their meeting place, the foiled Dragon men scurried for the footwalk. There, for the first time, they located The Shadow"s gunfire.
They ripped shots in response, an enfilading fire along the footwalk itself!
The Shadow had no chance to dart between big girders. Shots were coming from too many guns, and such a course would have boxed him in. Besides, The Shadow had no desire to prevent the meeting of the Dragon Clan. Having carried this fray away from the meeting place, he was anxious to get back there.
Hence The Shadow sped ahead of the gunfire. Wild shots ricocheted from the steel posts all about him. Shooting foemen saw him only as a vague shape. The Shadow suddenly swerved beside the bridge rail and threw himself across and over it. As he went, The Shadow seized the stirrup from its bolt. The wire tw.a.n.ged as it swept downward into the darkness.
Stretched to its full length, the wire was like a mammoth pendulum with The Shadow as its base. Seemingly, The Shadow was bound for a plunge into the river, but the steel wire stood the test. It was tugging, gathering into its cylinder, as The Shadow swooped toward water level.
Then, with the bridge high above him, The Shadow reached the limit of his dip. He was coming up again, sh.o.r.eward, with the squatty building waiting to receive him, but he was too low to reach its roof!
This time, The Shadow hadn"t made an outward leap. He profited by the fact, for as the wall came looming at him, he twisted just enough to miss its corner and take to s.p.a.ce between. His swing was losing its momentum as he pa.s.sed the far corner of the building. There, The Shadow made a grab.
Then he was literally crawling along the wall, supported by the cable that couldn"t get away until he chose to release it! Reaching the fire escape, The Shadow grabbed hold and let the stirrup go. It thwacked the wall, flapped past the corner, and sailed up to the high bridge.
The Shadow had reached the meeting place ahead of Sauber, whose detour had delayed him. He was ahead of the Dragon men who were hurrying this way along the bridge. As for The Shadow"s own agents, they were wondering where their chief had gone.
It would take the agents and Steve some time to find the meeting place.
Which suited The Shadow"s plans to perfection, since he would still have time toconfront the Dragon Clan alone, as he originally intended.
Low, sibilant was The Shadow"s whispered laugh as the darkness of a waiting window swallowed him - a prelude to his final duel with the Black Dragon!
CHAPTER XIX.
THE VANISHED MASTER.
CREAKS were sounding in the darkened hall outside the old office that formed the new meeting room of the Dragon Clan. Whispers pa.s.sed among lurkers who were stationed there. Those lurkers belonged to the Dragon Clan, and their whispers proved that no genuine Chinese were mixed in this ugly business.
Chinese couldn"t whisper; their language depended on inflections, which made it impossible.
Obviously, the dragon men were expecting someone. It was quite in keeping with the methods of their chief, the Black Dragon, to turn his meeting room into a trap. Hence, the hallway was dark, to encourage the intruder who was moving toward quick doom.
The creaks kept on. They reached the door of the meeting room and continued through. A surprising thing, considering that the door was closed. Whispers ended instantly. Only The Shadow could have opened and closed a door so silently as he. The thing was uncanny, nevertheless the lurkers took it as a matter of course. Shiftily, they moved to new positions, producing other floor creaks.
It was like a calm before a storm, this coming of the meeting hour for the Dragon Clan. A storm which The Shadow had boldly determined to invoke. But there were outside elements concerned in it; how soon they would be due was a question.