Aiding Joland to the stairway, The Shadow descended. He took the side door to the courtyard. As he reached the front of the house, The Shadow could hear clubs clicking on the sidewalk beyond a corner of the alley. From the distance came police whistles.
The Shadow spied a stooping figure. Hawkeye. The man was clutching a wounded shoulder. The Shadow was right; Hawkeye had tried to intercept Diamond Bert. But the crook had beaten him to the shot.
The Shadow whispered an order. Hawkeye grunted a response. He could see Joland’s figure staggering along the alley, supported by what appeared to be a pillar of blackness. The Shadow was guiding the drugged secretary to the nearest corner.
A cab popped into view just as The Shadow reached his goal. It was Moe’s taxi. The Shadow hoisted Joland aboard; then dropped away as Hawkeye stumbled up. Hawkeye gained the cab and slumped in beside Joland. Moe heard a whispered order from The Shadow. The cab shot away from the curb.
Shots sounded from across the street. Policemen had spied the cab and were trying to stop it. From the entrance of the alley, The Shadow fired his automatics, high above the heads of the bluecoats. He wanted to divert their attack. He succeeded.
Police bullets zinged toward the alleyway, flattening against brick walls, ricocheting from the curb. The Shadow responded twice from deeper in the alley. Again, his shots were purposely high. Officers advanced on the run.
But by the time they flashed their lights along the alleyway, The Shadow had swept far from view.
Moving rapidly through, he was heading for the street beyond. He had sent Hawkeye and Joland to a place of safety. His task was to resume the trail of Diamond Bert.
HALF an hour later, a tiny flashlight glimmered on the glass-paneled door of an office. It showed the name of the International Mining Syndicate. It moved downward and spotted the brass lock. The Shadow’s pick came into action. The door yielded.
Entering a darkened office, The Shadow paused. He knew that Diamond Bert could not yet have reached this destination. The lock would have shown some sign; moreover, The Shadow had come here with the utmost speed.
Yet The Shadow was also positive that Diamond Bert would not desist from his attempt to gain the uncut diamonds. This crime was to be the crook’s master stroke. Moreover, Diamond Bert had much reason to believe that The Shadow did not know where to-night’s crime was to fall.
The note had come intact from the laundry. Diamond Bert and Throckton Rayne had made no mention of the place where they were going. There was every reason why Diamond Bert should attempt this robbery as soon as possible. Delay was not part of the slippery crook’s game.
The Shadow reached an inner office. Beyond it was a little room. The doorway was blocked by a massive metal grille. Half of this contrivance was hinged to open. The fastenings consisted of three formidable locks, evidently equipped with an alarm.
The Shadow knew that Throckton Rayne had designed the contrivance and that Diamond Bert knew its secret. While he awaited Diamond Bert’s approach, The Shadow began an inspection of his own. He discovered that a heavy cross piece ran along the middle of the upright bars. This was decorated with an ornate scroll. It was there that The Shadow looked for the secret. He found it.
The scroll was loose. This was natural, for it had no protective value. But as The Shadow shifted it with his gloved fingers, he found the combination. Up — then to the left — a click and the iron cross piece moved with the scroll.
The vertical bars now formed two sets, a little off line. Those below the cross bar were slightly to the left of those above. The Shadow pressed the bars upward. They arose together, forming an opening beneath. The Shadow edged through this space, on the side of the grille which apparently had no door.
Within the little room, The Shadow discovered a vault built in the wall. It bore the name Blefflinger. Like the grille, it was heavily decorated around the edges of the door. The Shadow pressed portions of the metal molding.
At last he found the secret. After intricate manipulation, sections of the molding began to slide apart.
From between them, halfway up either side of the door, metal rods slid out automatically. These thin pieces were each three inches high. They were provided with finger holes.
The Shadow drew them toward him. Working on ball-bearings, the entire front of the vault slid outward, the door coming with the frame. Stepping to the side, The Shadow saw that the vault was double-walled, with these drawerlike segments between. A wide space yawned in the side of the sliding inner wall.
Through it, The Shadow stooped into the vault.
He had found the mode of opening which had enabled Diamond Bert and Throckton Rayne to do quick work at Tatson’s and Lewkesbury’s. This vault, though different from the other safes, had operated on what must be the same principle, a sliding front.
Now The Shadow’s task concerned the uncut diamonds that were being held for Gautier Ranaud. He intended to remove them; to leave an empty vault for Diamond Bert. Then could the arch-crook be trapped, while seeking for treasure that was not here to gain.
THE interior of the vault, though high, was not deep. The Shadow’s search was rapid. Boxes, files, other objects were moved aside by the gloved hands, At last the search had sorrowed to a single compartment at the bottom of the vault. The Shadow opened the little door. His blinking flashlight showed total emptiness!
The diamonds were already gone! Who had taken them? Diamond Bert? The Shadow’s hollow laugh was a denial. The crook could not possibly have come here and gone by this time. Stooping, The Shadow left the vault. He pushed the front shut. He made his way out through the grille and closed the tricky barrier.
Reaching the outer office, The Shadow paused to listen. No sound of any approach. Yet by now, Diamond Bert should be close at hand. The Shadow found a switchboard; he plugged in and used the telephone. He gained his connection. A quiet voice responded:
“Burbank speaking.”
“Report,” ordered The Shadow.
“Report from Burke,” stated the contact man. “Cardona has left headquarters. Destination, Hotel Wildebrand. Purpose unknown. Cardona accompanied by Markham.”
“Report received.”
Ending the call, The Shadow laughed. He remembered an item in one of Rutledge Mann’s reports. That was a statement concerning Gautier Ranaud. The Frenchman was stopping at the Hotel Wildebrand.
Some new development had occurred since Monte Agland’s message had been dispatched to Diamond Bert. It concerned the uncut gems. Diamond Bert, after eluding The Shadow, must have made contact with Monte. He had learned the news.
Crime was not due in this office. The place where it would strike was at Ranaud’s hotel. Again, Diamond Bert had slipped The Shadow; but the master sleuth knew where the crook would be.
A soft laugh echoed within the office. Then came echoes, finally a hush that arrived with the soft closing of the outer door. The Shadow had fared forth toward another goal.
CHAPTER XXI. CRIME STRIKES
FIVE men were in the living room of a suite at the Hotel Wildebrand. Seated in the center of this group was Police Commissioner Wainwright Barth. To his right was Gautier Ranaud. Leaning back in his chair, the bearded Frenchman was smiling as he smoked a cigar.
Standing beyond Ranaud was Monte Agland. Attired in Tuxedo, the debonair young man seemed quite at ease. Tall, of rather slender build, Monte formed a contrast to Ranaud, who was short and chunky.
On Barth’s left were two representatives of the law. They had arrived but a short while before: Acting Inspector Joe Cardona and Detective Sergeant Markham. Barth had introduced them; now, in exacting fashion, the police commissioner was summarizing the events that had brought them here.