“Message from Lopez,” announced Desmond, as he took the wheel.
“You did not call him?” quizzed Legira, sharply.
“Of course not,” rejoined Desmond.
“All right, then,” said Legira. “Let us move along, Desmond, there is no time for delay of any sort.”
The car pulled away from the curb. It sped toward the nearest corner, swerved and swung into the light of an avenue. Hardly had it departed, before another car was in motion.
This was a coupe, that had been lingering in the darkness, parked beside the apartment house. It picked up the pursuit as it reached the avenue. It kept a respectable distance in the rear of the speeding sedan. The big car crossed the Queensborough Bridge and headed eastward on Long Island. Still, the coupe followed it.
Alvarez Legira, with ten million dollars in his possession was hastening toward a spot of security, confident that no one in all New York could know his destination, save those two who accompanied him.
Yet, hard on the heels of the fleeing men, another was following. Legira could elude his enemies. He could evade the forces of the law.
But he could not escape The Shadow!
CHAPTER XV
THE SHADOW HEARS
THE tang of salt air was evident when the big sedan pulled into the driveway of a secluded house on Long Island. Far from other dwellings, this building was not distant from the coast. The gleaming headlights showed what appeared to be a deserted home. Thick gravel crunched as Desmond brought the car to a stop.
“You have the key?” questioned Legira.
“Right here,” responded Desmond.
“Open the front door for us,” ordered Legira.
Desmond’s big, pudgy form showed in the light as he crossed in front of the car and advanced to the house. He stood on the porch while Legira and Francisco carried the heavy box between them. They entered the house. Desmond followed and closed the door.
Darkness persisted for less than a minute. Then Desmond found a light and turned it on. He gazed curiously at the box that had been deposited on the floor.
Desmond’s interest in the heavy luggage ended when he saw Legira glance in his direction. The pudgy man led the way into a front room. There he lighted another electric lamp.
Legira dropped into a chair and breathed a long sigh of relief. Desmond sat down and lighted a cigar.
“Well, here we are,” he announced, in a matter-of-fact tone.
“What time is it?” asked Legira.
“Quarter of eleven,” remarked Desmond, glancing at his watch.
“Excellent work,” said Legira, approvingly. “We came out here very rapidly.”
The consul from Santander seemed to have regained much of his natural poise. He twisted the ends of his mustache and rubbed his chin reflectively. Then he had a sudden thought.
“The telephone!” he exclaimed. “It is connected here?”
Desmond nodded.
“I must call Lopez” — Legira hesitated — “I must be careful, though, telephoning from here. Yes, it will be all right—”
Desmond pointed to the hall to indicate the location of the telephone. Legira arose and went there. He found Francisco seated on a chair in the corner. He smiled as he noted the box, a few feet away.
“Keep on guard, Francisco,” said Legira, in Spanish. “It will not be for long, faithful one.”
Back in the front room, Desmond, listening carefully, could hear Legira calling the operator. The pudgy man was intent. Nevertheless, he did not hear the sound of something at the window behind him. Less than five feet away, a thin, dark blade had been thrust between the sections of the sash. The latch was moving, noiselessly.
The sash opened. Desmond did not hear it. He was watching toward the hall. A shadow fell across the floor beside him. It was a long, thin shadow, with silhouetted profile.
Desmond, bent upon hearing Legira speak, was utterly oblivious as a tall black figure entered by the window. The sash descended. The figure merged with the dark end of a huge bookcase at a corner of the room.
Legira was speaking now. Desmond tried to make out the conversation by overhearing the consul’s words.
“Tonight?” Legira’s voice was questioning. “Ballou? What? A wire?”
He grunted impatiently; then spoke rapidly in a flow of Spanish. An expression of keen disappointment came over Desmond’s face. He could not understand this jargon.
He realized that it was natural for Legira to converse with Lopez in their native tongue. Although the consul occasionally interspersed a few words of English, they had no meaning for Desmond.
The pudgy man shrugged his shoulders and settled back in his chair. He was in that attitude when Legira returned.
THERE was a serious look on the consul’s face. It puzzled Desmond for a moment; then, as Legira thoughtfully lighted a cigarette, Desmond divined that he was about to be taken into the South American’s confidence.
“Desmond,” said Legira, seriously, “I am in serious difficulty. Matters have changed — very badly. I am worried. I shall depend upon you to aid me.”
“Glad to do it,” declared Desmond.
“I have paid you money in the past,” continued Legira. “Your services have been excellent. I promised you the final half of your money when your work was completed. That, I expected, would be tonight.”
“So you told me.”
“Here is the money” — Legira produced an envelope from his pocket — “and it makes the final payment. Five thousand dollars here. You have already received five thousand, not counting the expenses which I have defrayed for you. I have paid you well, Desmond. In return, you have given me excellent service.”
“That’s what you paid for.”
“Desmond,” resumed Legira, “I have further work for you. It is only a matter of a few details; yet I am willing to pay one thousand dollars for the service. You can attend to these matters for me tomorrow. They were things that I intended to do myself.”
Desmond waited for Legira to explain.
“Matters that I could easily take care of,” mused Legira, “but now that affairs have tightened, it is best that some one else should do them. It is not wise for me to call Lopez again from here.”
“Give me the instructions,” said Desmond. “I’ll attend to the rest.”
“I shall give you the one thousand dollars first,” declared Legira, producing the money from his pocket.
Desmond smiled as he accepted the bonus.
“I seldom speak at length,” said Legira, “but tonight I must do so. I want to impress upon you the importance of your mission. Also, I feel that it is better for a man to know more after he has learned a little.
“Until tonight, you did not know why I rented this house. You did not know where we were going until we reached the Baltham Trust Company. I shall explain those matters — and other facts in addition.
“I have been in danger, Desmond. It was necessary for me to obtain a fund of money. There are people who have tried to take it from me. One of them, a South American like myself, has been watching those persons with whom I have negotiated. Yet he has cunningly kept in the background, doing all his work through trusted agents.
“It was to deceive his agents that I employed you to obtain a man who could take my place — Perry Wallace. Free, I was able to swing negotiations and gain possession of the funds to which I was entitled as agent of the Santander government. You understand?”
“The money is in the box?” inquired Desmond.
“Yes,” admitted Legira. “Safely in the box. I am here on Long Island because I know that all boats for Santander are being watched. A yacht is at present off this coast. It will meet me by sending in a little boat, when I give the word.”