When he reached the street, Jericho removed his long-visored cap and mopped his brow with a rainbow hued silk handkerchief. He strolled back to his post across the street. He had given the signal that the job was done. Two minutes later, Jericho was passing out cards when Moe’s cab pulled up in front of the laundry.
MOE’S Chinese passengers alighted. Blandly, they entered the laundry. They looked like two visitors coming to see Hoy Wen and Loon Goy. Actually, they were; but they had no friendship for the two crooked Chinamen. These new Celestials were agents of Yat Soon, the arbiter.
Hawkeye knew that they were coming. He received them with a grin when they entered. He pointed to the bodies on the floor. The new Chinese spoke together in their native tongue. Then one of them went out to the front of the laundry, while the other began to bind and gag Hoy Wen and Loon Goy in turn.
Hawkeye watched the process in admiration. The Chinaman was as capable at his job as Jericho had been at his. Using thongs that he produced, Yat Soon’s agent made short work of trussing up the Oriental crooks.
In the course of his work, he fished out two Chinese disks that Hoy Wen and Loon Goy had been carrying. Leaving the two men bound, he went to the front of the shop. Hawkeye, peering through the curtains, saw him give one disk to his companion and keep the other for himself.
There were boxes in the back room. Large ones. When the agent of Yat Soon returned, he called on Hawkeye to aid him. They loaded Hoy Wen in one box; Loon Goy in another. Hawkeye nailed lids on the boxes while the Chinaman used the telephone to make a call.
This done, the Chinaman found brush and ink. He painted Chinese characters upon the boxes; then added a name and address in English. The name was that of Yat Soon. This careful work required nearly ten minutes, for the Chinaman was deliberate. Hardly had he finished before there was a pounding at the rear door.
The Chinaman admitted two truckmen. They carried out one box; then came for the other and removed it also. Seated in a corner, Hawkeye looked on in wonder. He had heard of Yat Soon. He wondered what punishment would come to Loon Goy and Hoy Wen when they were delivered to the arbiter.
To Hawkeye, the two new Chinese looked exactly like the pair that had been shipped away. He realized that these men of Yat Soon were taking over the business. As a reminder of that fact, the Chinaman who had addressed the boxes suddenly handed Hawkeye the envelope that had come with the laundry left by Hubert.
The envelope was sealed. Hawkeye hesitated to open it. The Chinaman settled the matter when he observed Hawkeye’s dilemma. Over in one corner was a washing machine. All this while it had been bubbling with boiling water. Steam was coming from beneath the lid.
The Celestial took the envelope. Deftly, he passed it back and forth in the escaping steam. The flap of the envelope loosened; the Chinaman peeled it open and removed a sheet of paper which he handed to Hawkeye. Hawkeye stared at the message that he found. It was printed in capital letters:
IMSOK
“Imsok,” read Hawkeye. “What does that mean? Sounds like Russian, don’t it?”
“You writee him down?” questioned the Chinaman, standing with a laundry slip and a pencil.
“Sure,” replied Hawkeye. “Imsok.”
He copied the word and handed the paper back to the Chinaman, who replaced it carefully in the envelope and closed the flap. Hawkeye watched the Chinaman run an iron over the envelope. The neat job killed all traces of the envelope having been opened.
Hawkeye picked up the telephone and made a call. It was to a number that Slade Farrow had given him.
Hawkeye was calling Harry Vincent. When Harry responded, Hawkeye reported. He told the contents of the note. When he repeated the word “Imsok,” Harry asked him to spell it. Hawkeye complied; then, in response to a new question, stated that all the letters had been capitals. Harry’s tone denoted satisfaction.
The Shadow’s agent had promptly understood the meaning of the message. This was because Harry had overheard Monte Agland talking, last night, with Gautier Ranaud. “I M S” meant “International Mining Syndicate.” “O K” signified itself: the slang expression “O.K.” It was Agland’s tipoff to Diamond Bert that the job could be worked to-night.
HAWKEYE remained in the rear room. Darkness had settled over Manhattan; evening was under way.
Stolidly, Yat Soon’s men were running the laundry in place of Hoy Wen and Loon Goy. Hawkeye was watching through the curtains. He saw a middle-aged man enter.
The arrival laid a laundry ticket on the counter. One of Yat Soon’s agents picked it up. Instantly, the customer raised his hand, holding it cupped so the Chinaman could see an object in the palm. Hawkeye caught a flash of a Chinese disk.
The Chinaman promptly displayed the token that he carried. He found the customer’s package and carried it into the rear room, passing Hawkeye who drew back from the curtains. Picking up the ironed envelope, the Chinaman thrust it into the overlapping edge of the package.
He went back to the customer. A clink announced that the man had gone with his package. The Chinaman appeared at the curtains and beckoned to Hawkeye; then pointed to the door. Hawkeye nodded. He strolled out to the street.
A cab rolled up. It was Moe’s. Hawkeye sidled into the rear and stared out through the front window.
He saw the man with the package turn the corner. Moe started the cab. As it turned the corner, Hawkeye caught sight of the man ahead. The fellow was springing into a cab.
The chase began. A cab ahead, with Moe following. Moe’s craftiness gave Hawkeye the jitters. Moe would linger far behind, so that the man in the front cab would not know that he was being followed. Yet Moe did not lose the trail.
Hawkeye settled back in the rear seat. He tried to relax; to leave the chase below. He thrust out his arm.
It encountered something in the darkness of the rear seat. Hawkeye turned to stare squarely into burning eyes that stared from solid blackness.
A soft laugh whispered in the cab. Hawkeye shivered and stared straight ahead. He was not alone on this chase. With him was another, a master trailer. One with whom Hawkeye must work to-night.
A personage whom Hawkeye feared, even though he was an ally with that being. Hawkeye was riding with The Shadow!
CHAPTER XX. THE DOUBLE SLIP
THE cab ahead had stopped. It had reached a destination close to the East River. The glow of city lights showed the structure of the Brooklyn Bridge looming high beyond lowlying buildings. Boat whistles were sounding from the mist that rose above the channel.
A weirdly whispered voice was ordering Hawkeye to continue the pursuit. Nodding as he stared through the front window of Moe’s cab, the little trailer prepared to open the door. Moe stopped by the curb.
Hawkeye spied a man leaving the cab ahead.
The fellow edged into an alley. Hawkeye started in that direction, as the discharged cab pulled away.
Then, phantomlike, The Shadow alighted also. From the darkness, he whispered orders to Moe. Startled by The Shadow’s presence, the driver could only nod.
Then Moe pulled away as The Shadow took up Hawkeye’s trail. Through the alleyway, he followed the spotter’s path until he found Hawkeye waiting in front of an old, brick-walled building that appeared to be deserted.
The quarry had entered that house. The Shadow knew the fact from the way Hawkeye was prowling. In a little court beside the building, Hawkeye was testing a heavy door, only to find it locked. The Shadow gave no order. He saw that Hawkeye intended to wait. Stealthily, The Shadow passed Hawkeye in the darkness.