“Cowry is a racketeer — and a smooth one. From what Varden said, he had dealings with Cowry. I’ve been looking for Cowry because I knew the fellow might be in some big game. I figure now that he’s in back of the San Salvador mix-up.”
“I AM glad you came to see me, Cardona,” decided Preston. “I can appreciate your cause for apprehension. When racketeers go in for big deals, they make real trouble.”
“Yes,” returned Cardona, “and that’s the time to get them. I don’t want Varden. His case is a Federal job. But if — through Varden — I can get hold of Seth Cowry, I can pin plenty on that crook. I can turn him over to the Feds. I may be able to smear plenty of other phony deals that he’s hooked up with. That’s why I came to see you. I want to know if there’s any way you can reach Varden — or if you have heard anything from him.”
“If I had,” smiled Preston, “it would probably have been in a legal way, considering the existing circumstances. I have heard nothing from Varden. Since he is in trouble, I feel sure that any communication from him would refer to his present plight. Should he seek my services as his attorney, I would have to keep confidence regarding his whereabouts as well as his affairs.”
“Certainly,” agreed Cardona. “Just the same, it would be your business to give him advice, wouldn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“And you could give me any information that both Varden and yourself decided would be all right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, if you hear from Varden, tell him what I want. Let him know the lid is off. There’s going to be trouble from the San Salvador layout, and nobody will be able to cover it. It won’t do him or his friends any good to cover up Seth Cowry. The man is a crook, and a bad one. If I can get him, I’ll pin so much on him that he will look mighty bad, Cowry will. That ought to help Varden and the others in the San Salvador company.”
“Probably,” agreed Preston. “I appreciate your frankness, Cardona. Perhaps you have an idea that I have already heard from Varden. Candidly, I wish I had. I should like to be able to inform you that I had been appointed to handle his legal affairs in this matter.
“Unfortunately, I have not heard from him. At the same time, it is possible that I shall hear from him. Rest assured that I shall notify you at once if Varden communicates with me. Varden is, I believe, an honest man at heart. It is terrible to realize that a racketeer like this Seth Cowry may have ruined his affairs.
“Sometimes honest men protect crooks because they fear them. I hope that I shall hear from Varden; because then I can be able to advise him that the force of the law is on his side, so far as Cowry is concerned.”
“That’s right,” nodded Cardona. “I’ve got a hunch, Mr. Preston, that there are other men in the same boat as Varden. If I could find out some of the others that Cowry was after, I could put a lot of mean work on the fritz.”
“I understand that,” declared Preston. “My only regret is that I know nothing. Cowry is evidently a dangerous crook.”
“With some bigger crook in back of him,” asserted Cardona. “Believe me, Mr. Preston. Somewhere there’s a list of other dupes like Varden — men that Seth Cowry has gone after. I’d like to get that list, wherever it is. Varden may think he’s the only one in the pickle. There are others. Believe me.”
The detective was rising as he spoke. He shook hands with the lawyer. Together, they went to the door of the living room. Preston was assuring Cardona of his cooperation. At the same time, the lawyer could express no definite hope.
“I wish you luck,” was Preston’s final statement. “I knew Varden well enough to realize that he was an honest man. There must be others in the same predicament. I trust that you will gain traces of Seth Cowry and uncover the names of those whom the racketeer has held as victims.”
As the door closed behind Cardona, Ruggles Preston strode back to the center of the living room. His eyes looked toward the desk. A smile appeared upon the lawyer’s lips. His teeth showed maliciously.
PRESTON’S visitor had proven tame. The lawyer had handled Joe Cardona like a child. Not for an instant had the detective suspected that Preston might be implicated in the disappearance of Worth Varden.
Ruggles Preston was thinking of the list that Cardona had guessed was in existence. That very list was hidden beneath the slide of Preston’s desk — the list which Seth Cowry had compiled!
The victims, however, were no longer under the surveillance of Seth Cowry. The racketeer was dead — by Gray Fist’s order. It was Ruggles Preston who now served the evil purpose of the superfiend!
Cardona had intimated that there must be some one higher up than Cowry. But the detective had no inkling regarding such a personage as Gray Fist. Ruggles Preston chuckled as he turned toward the window.
Mirth died upon the lawyer’s cackling lips. Stark terror was the expression which dominated Preston’s face. With bulging eyes, the attorney stared directly at a new visitor who had entered the living room silently and unseen.
Just within the opened window stood the shape of a being in black. A tall, spectral personage, garbed with flowing cloak; a creature of the night, whose face was masked by upturned collar, and whose features were lost beneath the shade of a broad-brimmed hat.
The muzzle of a huge automatic was turned toward Preston. Blazing eyes showed from the spot where the face was invisible. A whining plaint came sobbing from the lips of Ruggles Preston. The lawyer who had fooled Joe Cardona knew that he now faced a being whom he could not deceive.
Trembling, the dishonest lawyer backed pitifully away from the fearful menace of The Shadow!
CHAPTER XV
GRAY FIST’S ANSWER
A SIBILANT sound whispered through the living room. Ruggles Preston cowered as he heard The Shadow’s laugh. Mere moments had transformed the crooked lawyer from a suave, persuasive gentleman into a shaking wretch.
The nonchalance that had served Preston well during his conversation with Cardona was a lacking factor since The Shadow had arrived. This menace from the dark — a being who had entered from the wall outside the window — was one with which Preston could not cope.
The blazing eyes, the soft, taunting laugh — these were the proofs that The Shadow knew the truth of Preston’s game. Where Joe Cardona had considered the lawyer as one who might aid the way of justice, The Shadow knew Preston for what he really was — a minion of Gray Fist.
Preston, despite his pretense to respectability, was well acquainted with the ways of the underworld. He knew the power of The Shadow. He had congratulated himself that he would probably never encounter this formidable foe. The arrival of The Shadow had reduced him to a state of terror.
The pause that followed the dying echoes of The Shadow’s laugh was as impressive as the sardonic mockery. Then came a new manifestation of this stalwart being’s power. With even, whispered tones, The Shadow brought the accusation that Ruggles Preston expected.
“I am here,” declared The Shadow, in a scoffing sneer, “to learn the facts that you know. I have come to hear of your dealings with Gray Fist.”
The final words were hissed. Preston crouched back against the wall beside the desk, and raised his hands to shut off sight of the weird avenger who stood before him. The effort was futile. Preston’s hands trembled. His eyes stared into the hidden space below the brim of the black hat. The blazing eyes of The Shadow shone like luminous orbs. They held Preston captive with their spell.
“Speak.”
The single word was sufficient as it hissed from The Shadow’s lips. Preston could not withstand the dominating power of this master. He gasped forth his confession.