Hunky was backed against the wall of a short, dimly-lighted passage. His finger had slipped from the trigger of his gun. The weapon remained in his hand solely because his loosened fist had failed to open fully. No word had been needed to proclaim the identity of the menace that stood before the affrighted mobster. Hunky had recognized The Shadow.
The girasol glimmered as The Shadow pressed the door shut behind him. Hunky did not see the flashing gem. His eyes fixed in a helpless stare, were fascinated by The Shadow’s gaze. Hunky was experiencing the hypnosis that seizes a bird trapped by the cold glare of a snake.
A motion of the automatic. This time, Hunky responded through fear. He let his revolver clatter to the floor. He raised his hands to the level of his shoulders. He quivered as he heard a whispered laugh — a merciless tone that sounded hollow in that passage.
Though his automatic remained level, The Shadow’s eyes turned. They sought the inner end of the passage. There they saw another door, also metal-sheathed; but with bolts on the near side. Instantly, The Shadow discerned the purpose of that barrier.
Any one who passed by that next door would be blocked from return. Hunky had a double duty. He could stop those who might seek exit as well as the ones who came in from outside. Had Slade Farrow come here as appointed, he would have walked into a positive trap.
Sweeping a few paces forward, The Shadow paused and turned toward Hunky. Whispered words came from hidden lips. Their hiss made the mobster cower. Hunky feared death. He did not know that The Shadow scorned unnecessary kills.
Though the mobster might prove a handicap, The Shadow intended to take him along on the path that lay ahead. Hunky, at The Shadow’s bidding, was scheduled to make his first trip into the interior of Tam Sook’s lair. It was a chance occurrence that altered The Shadow’s plans.
THE SHADOW had passed Hunky and had faced toward him. Thus The Shadow’s eyes were fixed upon the outer door. It was not from that barrier, however, that trouble came. The inkling of danger arrived from the deep end of the passage, where The Shadow had spied the door with drawn bolts.
A slight swish of air announced the opening of that second barrier. The Shadow wheeled as a second mobster stepped in view. This fellow was an inner guardian. For some reason, he had decided to enter the passage to speak to Hunky.
Under the same orders, the newcomer held a revolver. Moreover, he experienced an advantage that Hunky had not gained. This second gunman had caught The Shadow by surprise. He lost no time the moment that he saw the shrouded figure.
The revolver came up as The Shadow wheeled. Quickly, the guard aimed for the black-clad form. The revolver spurted flame. A bullet whizzed down the passage. It flattened against the door that The Shadow had closed.
For in his whirl, the cloaked intruder had performed an amazing fadeaway. Over across the passage, down toward the floor, The Shadow dwindled instantaneously. This was the instinctive trick that had served him well in combat with marksmen of the underworld. Many a killer had been astounded by that fading swerve. None who had witnessed it had remained to benefit by their discovery.
For the fadeaway was but the prelude to the deed that came a split-second later. Though his form dropped, The Shdow’s right arm swung upward. The automatic thundered in the passage. The mobster staggered forward from the door.
Though clipped by The Shadow’s return shot, the gunman was not finished. His body was doubled up and swaying; but his lips spat oaths as his wavering right hand loosed shots that ricocheted along the passage. With those hopeless revolver bursts came new stabs from the automatic. The mobster crumpled on the stone floor.
The sight of conflict had revived Hunky’s courage. With a venomous snarl, the cowering mobster had dropped to the floor to grab his gun. While his pal’s bullets sizzled above his head, Hunky made desperate aim. It was an act that The Shadow had foreseen.
With echoes still resounding through the stone-walled passage, The Shadow came upward in a rapid spin. His smoking automatic coughed as it swung. A zimming slug found Hunky’s crouched body before the gangster could press the trigger of his revolver.
Instinctive aim had served The Shadow well. By incredible swiftness he had beaten Hunky to the shot.
Not only that, his close-range burst was perfect. Hunky proved softer than the man at the door. A single slug was all that he could take. He rolled upon the floor and lay still.
The Shadow waited. Silence followed echoes. There was no farther sound from anywhere. The whole house was like a tomb. The Shadow strode past Hunky’s body and bolted the outer door. Then he turned, went along the passage and went through the inner portal, closing it behind him. He noted bolts on this side also.
THE SHADOW had formulated a swift plan. His quest was for Diamond Bert. The arch-crook might already be within this house. If so, a quick search would locate him. Should the hunt prove futile, The Shadow must make a rapid return. By taking Hunky’s place behind the first barrier, he could admit Diamond Bert should he arrive and crave entrance through display of a Chinese disk.
Just beyond the second portal, The Shadow found a closed door. It was raised a short space from the floor. It indicated a stairway. Not only was this the only course that could be followed; but the presence of the door explained something to The Shadow’s satisfaction. That blocking barrier told why the shots had not been heard higher in the house.
The Shadow opened the door and found a narrow flight of stairs. Dim lights showed the steps. The Shadow ascended. He reached a landing and continued upward. Past the second floor; then to the third.
The stairs made short turns; and at no spot along the way did The Shadow discover any passage leading from them until he reached the top.
There, The Shadow encountered another blocking door. He opened it and found a short corridor that terminated in a steel-sheathed door. This had no loophole. Instead, its center was furnished with a square of thick glass that was evidently bulletproof. Peering through the pane, The Shadow discerned blackness only.
The light in the hallway showed The Shadow as a weird shape of blackness. Moving away from the glass panel, The Shadow brought his left hand into the light. He held it near the glass in the door, displaying the Chinese disk. Firmly, he rapped his right hand against the door.
Half a minute passed. The Shadow was holding an automatic in his right hand. He had produced it swiftly, as he had done below. Then, noiselessly, the sheathed barrier slid open. The light from the hall revealed a tiny antechamber. Directly beyond it was another door.
The next door had an opening supplied with four short vertical bars. It was through this that some one — from inner darkness — had peered clear through the glass in the outer door. The Shadow paused, pressed close against the wall. Then, from the darkness beyond the wicketed door, he heard an oddly-accented voice pronounce a single word:
“Enter.”
The tone of the voice was proof that it came from a corner some distance beyond the inner door.
Whoever had uttered the command, had moved away from the wicket. The Shadow was sure that spying eyes had seen the disk alone. Boldly, he stepped into the little anteroom.
A faint buzz from darkness beyond the wicket. The outer door slid shut. The Shadow was imprisoned in a tiny cell. Then came another sliding sound as the door with the wicket opened. Again, a voice from total darkness:
“Enter.”
THE SHADOW was totally invisible as he stepped forward through the opening. Again a buzz gave signal to the concealed person who waited in the darkness. The Shadow paused; he heard the wicketed door slide shut. A second later, greenish lights illuminated the room.