BACK at Denwood's lodge, The Shadow summed up the Scorpio situation as it stood, doing so in a calm, impartial style suited to the manner of Lamont Cranston. He made his summary for the benefit of Harry and Denwood, whose cooperation he needed in ferreting out the sequence of unusual crime.
The logic of Scorpio's position was The Shadow's theme. The bearded professor had spoken the truth, when he stated that the wealthy residents of the Calada colony were voluntarily pouring cash into his coffers. There were two weaknesses, however, to the original game, and each was dependent upon the other. The Shadow pointed them out, in detail.
The first was how long the racket would last under rising opposition; the second, how soon Scorpio would be detected in a fraud.
"We saw what happened last night," explained The Shadow. "Carradon was ready to do anything to combat Scorpio. But he acted through rage, not wisdom. He wanted to stop the séance, rather than expose it; but he almost accomplished both."
"But what about Carradon?" queried Denwood, anxiously. "Is he dead or alive?"
"Probably quite alive."
"But he might be dead! Don't forget, Cranston, Drury was murdered in an attempt to kill you!"
The Shadow shook his head.
"The major crime is robbery," he declared. "on a wholesale basis. We must consider everything else as incidental. I was not scheduled for murder, Denwood. I was simply slated for elimination."
"For elimination?"
"Yes. Through death, because it happened to be the easiest way. If the plane had crashed, it would have been termed an accident. But in Carradon's case, abduction was simpler. If the crooks had been told to kill him, they would have settled him with bullets and left his body in the boathouse."
The logic impressed Denwood. He began to see that crime had efficiency behind it. He could picture, too, that Carradon, or other persons-in fact, anyone but The Shadow-might be more useful to the crooks alive than dead.
"Consider this question," suggested The Shadow. "Why was Carradon abducted at all?"
"Simply answered," returned Denwood. "Because he grabbed the fake ghost."
"Not at all," declared The Shadow. "Scorpio destroyed that particular evidence. Carradon was carried away because he saw the so-called lake monster and learned that it was actually a boat, used to convey stolen goods."
Denwood's expression was one of complete amazement. He had thought of the lake monster as a myth; a wild dream of mistaken observers, which Professor Scorpio had heard about and exaggerated. No one, other than The Shadow, had guessed that criminals had escaped by water the night before. The consensus was that they had fled through the woods beyond the boathouse.
Scorpio can talk, and will," assured The Shadow, "but not under the crude persuasion used today. He must be confronted with facts that we can obtain through an accomplice."
"Such as Barcla?" questioned Denwood.
"Yes," replied The Shadow. "But Barcla is now with Scorpio. We must look for another man."
"Among the actual jewel thieves?"
"No. They came into the living room in the dark, and went out by the veranda door, to escape in the boat. They had nothing to do with the spook act. But there was a man that I met outside the cellar window, who had a hammer. His job was to nail the trap from below, after the séance; but Scorpio decided to fire the house, instead."
"One of Scorpio's Hindu servants?"
Again, The Shadow answered. Denwood was jumping to too many wrong conclusions. The Shadow explained that he had gone to Scorpio's today partly to check on the servants in question. Neither of the scrawny Hindus could have been the hammer man. His build was chunky.
"In all probability," decided The Shadow, "the man was one of the Lodi servants, planted there by Scorpio. One of your servants betrayed you, Denwood; hence we can assume that there are other traitors in the colony. I think that Vincent and I shall call at the Lodi home, this evening."
THE SHADOW finished with a cryptic smile, which indicated that he had no more to say. But Denwood, viewing the inscrutable features of Cranston, decided that there were many more details that remained unmentioned.
Until dusk, The Shadow worked at Denwood's desk, studying the locations of the previous robberies and asking about rumors that concerned the lake monster.
Recalling those rumors, Denwood realized that the monster had been seen on the evenings when Professor Scorpio had given séances, and could, therefore, be linked with the crimes.
So far, suspicion had attached only to Scorpio, because he had been in the homes where valuables had been missing later. Furthermore, Scorpio, despite his mystic claims, was a tangible thing, whereas the lake monster was commonly regarded as imaginary.
It was bold of Scorpio, Denwood decided, to talk openly about the thing seen in the lake. Since people who challenged Scorpio doubted everything he said, they would naturally reject the monster story more and more, every time Scorpio mentioned it.
By dusk, Denwood's chart was crisscrossed with lines, the main stem being the bearings that The Shadow had taken on the mountain peak the night before. The lines were a mere maze to Denwood, but he felt that The Shadow was tracking down the curious man-made creatures that actually glided through Lake Calada on nights when crime was rampant.
With Harry, The Shadow set out in the speedboat, but when they reached the Lodi dock they separated.
Harry took the path to the hacienda, while The Shadow circled through the woods. He wanted to take another look into the cellar, to see what evidence he might discover of a trapdoor in the charred remnants of the alcove floor.
Paula Lodi was in the living room, in a very weepy mood, but quite pleased because people had come to visit her. She was talking about Carradon in one breath, and Scorpio in the next. Both were "poor dears," in Paula's estimation, and she felt that they would eventually understand each other.
She was sure that Carradon would return, and she hoped that Scorpio would be well enough to give his lecture at the Community Center, which was scheduled for this evening. Unfortunately, Paula would not be able to go, but Professor Scorpio had sent a horoscope to cheer her.
Among those present, Harry saw Lois Melvin, who-to her credit-was not much impressed by Paula's weeping. But Harry was more interested in noting the servants; and he spotted the man he wanted, a stocky fellow named Rufus.
He was the only one who answered the description given by The Shadow; and his face was new to Harry. Evidently, Rufus had kept very much in the background the night before, which further identified him as the hammer man.
Cutting his visit short, Harry went down to the dock, but found the speedboat missing. He heard its thrum out on the lake and knew that The Shadow, not expecting him so soon, had gone on an excursion after finishing his trip to the cellar. Harry decided to wait on the dock.
A TRIP back to Paula's living room would have been preferable, for a reason that Harry did not guess.
At that moment, Paula, in her usual fluttery fashion, was handing the horoscope to Rufus, telling him to put it carefully away.
Carrying the printed paper, Rufus stopped near the fireplace; studied the horoscope by the light from the logs.
Only Lois noticed the servant's action. After Paula sent Rufus on some errand, Lois stepped to the bookshelf where he had tucked the horoscope, and obtained it. Since no one was near the fireplace, the girl copied Rufus' action of reading the paper by the firelight. She scanned one paragraph: A usual characteristic of this sign is medium height, few persons being over five feet nine. It is not meet for them to worry at trifles: they should watch their action, and place confidence in friends, before making decisions.
A change came over the paper. An invisible hand seemed to imprint it with dabs of brown. The thing was spooky, and Lois nearly lost the paper from he shaky hands. Then, steadying, she saw that the marks were numbers, each inscribed upon a word.