The Shadow hoisted the thug's limp body. Carrying the lookout into the house, The Shadow silently locked the door behind him.
TAPPER, meanwhile, was making progress with the rear door. His work was good, but Tapper was slower than The Shadow and, occasionally, he gave betraying clicks. Those sounds were heard.
A stealthy lookout paused near a rear corner of the house. Holding a flashlight behind him, he blinked it.
A second watcher joined him.
Together, the pair sneaked up to the rear door. Tapper did not hear them. The crooks waited until he released the lock, a matter of only a dozen seconds. One nudged the other; their flashlights came on.
Tapper swung about, to face a pair of gun muzzles.
Staring, Tapper raised his arms. He was looking at his captors; as he did, he saw a mammoth figure rise above their shoulders. Two huge hands swept inward, to take the necks of the crooks. Powerful arms did the rest. Their sweep never stopped as the hamlike hands clacked two heads hard together.
Tapper saw the two lookouts slump to the ground. Their revolvers clattered with their flashlights. One torch went out; Tapper picked up the other, to extinguish it.
The glow showed the face of Tapper's helper, it was that of a giant African, who displayed a wide, pleased grin.
The man was Jericho, whose gigantic strength had made him useful in the past. Like Tapper, Jericho was a reserve worker of The Shadow; his name had not been learned by Strampf. Together, Tapper and Jericho made a combination that could accomplish certain tasks that The Shadow performed alone.
Inside the house, the pair met The Shadow. The cloaked invader chose the route he wanted.
IN the basement, Burbank was waiting glumly for the doom that he thought was due. His eyes were upon Kelvey, the key-man who was to receive the telephone call.
Ace was standing close by, but he was looking through the passage toward the room that held The Shadow's agents.
Doors were open. There, beyond the muzzles of aimed machine guns, the doomed prisoners stood in line. Once Ace spoke the word, death's withering fire would begin.
The telephone bell jangled. Ace spoke, without turning.
"Answer it, Kelvey," he ordered. "If it's Strampf -"
Burbank lunged from his chair. He hit Kelvey as the man reached for the telephone. Burbank was determined to delay death, if only for seconds.
Ace heard the clatter and wheeled about with a snarl. He saw Burbank pounding Kelvey. Ace aimed.
One bullet would settle Burbank. Strampf could get someone else to fix the ray machine. Ace's main job was murder; he wasn't going to have it delayed by a lug who thought he was too important to be killed.
That was the way Ace figured it, as he tightened his finger on the trigger.
Something stopped Ace's shot. It was a sound that rose strident above the loud ringing of the telephone bell. That token was a mocking laugh that Ace Gandley had never expected to hear again. Ace wheeled to the far door of the room.
There stood The Shadow, framed against a dimly lighted stairway.
Ace blinked as though he had seen a ghost. That, however, did not stop his move. Dead or alive, ghost or human, The Shadow was crime's greatest foe. Ace jabbed his gun muzzle toward The Shadow and yanked hard at the trigger.
Two guns spoke together. One was Ace's swinging revolver; the other, an automatic that loomed from The Shadow's fist. Muzzles spat flame; two bullets found instant lodgment; but those resting places differed.
Ace's shot was hasty. Its slug carved deep into the woodwork beside The Shadow's shoulder. The Shadow's bullet went straight to its mark - the heart of Ace Gandley.
CROOKS in the passage saw Ace fall. They turned, as they heard the challenge of The Shadow's laugh.
To others, that strident mockery was a battle-cry. From the wall of the inner room, five agents of The Shadow came forward with a surge.
They were battling for the machine guns before killers had a chance to use those weapons. Crooks whipped out revolvers; the fighting agents grappled for them. In the midst of the instant fray, The Shadow came sweeping through to aid them. Close behind The Shadow was Jericho and Tapper.
Tapper saw Burbank struggling with Kelvey. He jumped to Burbank's aid. Kelvey was trying to pull a revolver. Tapper settled that with one of his own. A neat crack to Kelvey's skull put the fellow out of commission.
Coming to his feet, Burbank grabbed for the telephone. It was his turn to provide an imitation. In raspy voice, he announced:
"This is Kelvey."
"All is ready!" The words came in the harsh voice of Strampf. "Give the order to Ace!"
Burbank had clamped his hand over the mouthpiece. He lifted it slightly, so Strampf could hear him rasp:
"Let 'em take it, Ace!"
For a few seconds more, Burbank kept the mouthpiece covered. Shots were starting in the inner room.
As the barrage increased, Burbank lifted his hand entirely. Across the wire went the sounds of intermittent gunfire, followed by the sudden drill of a machine gun.
With that came silence.
"Hear it?" questioned Burbank across the wire. "Ace gave it! We're ready to lam!"
AS Burbank hung up the receiver, a procession came through from the prison room. That parade showed how the battle had finished. There had been six thugs in the death squad. All had fared badly.
One unscathed thug came first, his hands upraised. Behind him were Harry and Cliff each poking him with a gun. Next came two thugs, unable to navigate of their own accord.
Jericho had charge of them. He had each crippled rowdy by the coat collar and was supporting them so they could stumble ahead.
Clyde Burke came out between Rutledge Mann and Moe Shrevnitz. Clyde was grinning while he clutched a wounded shoulder. He was the only one of The Shadow's followers who had taken a chance bullet while killers were being disarmed.
After that group came Hawkeye.
Last was The Shadow. No others followed. Three of Ace's murderous mob were lying dead in the prison room.
To Burbank, The Shadow gave a single-worded order:
"Report!"
Methodically Burbank told how he had handled Strampf's telephone call. He pointed out the switch that controlled the lights. Burbank suspected that it had a double purpose. The Shadow agreed.
The cloaked victor sent his agents ahead with the prisoners, including Kelvey who had recovered from Tapper's slug on the head. The Shadow retained Hawkeye so that he and Burbank could carry the crate that held the portable black-ray machine.
When they had gone, The Shadow waited in the room that had once been Ace Gandley's headquarters.
When all had gained time to reach the outside doors, The Shadow pulled the switch. Blackness followed; using a flashlight, The Shadow went up the stairs. Through the back door, he chose the path to the rear street. He arrived there, to find the others waiting. The Shadow paused.
From the front street came the muffled thunder of a deep-placed explosion. It was followed by a prolonged clatter, as the old house tumbled into ruins. Burbank was right; that light switch was set to touch off a timed explosion.
Crooks had intended that blast to cover up new evidence of death. The explosion had served its purpose. Bullet-riddled bodies lay beneath the ruins; but they were not the ones that Bradthaw and Strampf had planned should be there.
Ace Gandley and three of his thuggish crew had gone to the grave intended for The Shadow's agents.
CHAPTER XXI. CROOKS CLAIM WEALTH
THE explosion at the old house was the final touch of The Shadow's strategy. News of that blast traveled far and rapidly. It came to Marvin Bradthaw, in his fortieth-story office.
There, the insurance magnate was seated at his desk, while Strampf handled the dials of a big radio set.