CHAPTER V
THE SHADOW SEES
AMAZING though events had been at the home of Rutherford Casslin, the time element had been quite short. The living-room clock had been chiming nine when Doctor Dubrong had left. That same clock marked thirty-eight minutes past the hour when Joe Cardona reassembled the guests in the living room, following his finding of Rutherford Casslin’s body.
In the space of less than forty minutes, Casslin had exhibited the Bishenpur diamond, Hubert had been slain, Hodges had killed a murderous Hindu, and Casslin’s dead body had been found under circumstances which seemed incredible.
The bodies of Hubert and the Hindu still lay where they had fallen. Casslin’s body was upstairs in the tower room. The steel door was closed and locked; the key was in Cardona’s pocket. The detective, ever alert, was standing at the rear door of the living room. From this position, he could see all within the room, and also keep an eye on the steel door in the hallway.
Word had been sent to Inspector Timothy Klein. The grizzled police officer was coming hither with detectives. In the meantime, Cardona, a lone investigator, was analyzing the strange situation that existed.
The guests were seated about the room. Gilkins and Hodges were standing within the doorway. Mrs. Casslin, alone, seemed on the verge of collapse. She had not seen her husband’s body, but she knew that death had struck.
Cardona was in a quandary. He was solicitous for Mrs. Casslin, yet he knew the importance of obtaining statements and proceeding with an investigation. He spoke to Stephen Gloucester.
“Is everyone here?” he questioned.
“Yes,” returned Gloucester. “All except Doctor Lysander Dubrong. He left, however, before Mr. Casslin brought the diamond from the strong room.”
“Doctor Dubrong,” mused Cardona. “He is the man who has the East Side clinic?”
“I believe so.”
An interruption came from Gilkins who was standing by the wall.
“Pardon, sir,” said the servant, “I believe I heard the doorbell. Shall I answer it?”
“No, stay here,” ordered Cardona. “Would you” — he turned again to Gloucester — “mind answering the door.”
“Not at all,” returned Gloucester.
The dignified gentleman went from the living room. A few minutes later, rapid footsteps sounded. Into the room strode Doctor Lysander Dubrong, with Stephen Gloucester behind him. The physician went at once to Mrs. Casslin. The bereaved woman sighed.
“This is Doctor Dubrong” said Gloucester, in an undertone, to Cardona.
Dubrong himself spoke to Cardona a moment later. Standing beside the chair where Mrs. Casslin was resting, the physician made a professional pronouncement.
“Mr. Gloucester has told me what occurred,” he said. “We must take Mrs. Casslin to her room at once.”
“All right,” agreed Cardona. “Mr. Gloucester will aid you.”
“There are two maids in the kitchen, sir,” volunteered Gilkins. “I do not believe that they know what has happened. You can summon them from his telephone here, sir.”
“Call them,” ordered Cardona, while Gloucester and Dubrong were aiding Mrs. Casslin from the room. “Tell them to go to Mrs. Casslin’s room.”
Gilkins went to the telephone. Cardona, half in the hallway, kept throwing occasional glances toward the steel door. Tension seemed to be relaxing.
Yvonne Lydell was seated beside Bart Melken. Unconsciously, the girl found her eyes going toward the window at the front of the room. She suppressed a gasp; Bart’s fingers immediately clutched her arm.
For an instant, the girl had fancied that she had caught the gleam of eyes beyond that window. Then the illusion was dispelled. She regained her calm. She heard Bart whisper for her to remain quiet.
Straining her eyes, Yvonne could see the balcony rail beyond the window. The rail seemed to emerge from a haze of darkness, as though a blanketing cloud of black had been removed. Yet Yvonne decided that it could not be a living form.
IN this decision, the girl was wrong. There was someone upon the balcony. Eyes had actually viewed the scene within the room. Yet they were not the eyes that Yvonne had seen before.
Earlier, she had actually observed the peering Hindu. This time, she had caught a momentary glimpse of the eyes of The Shadow!
A tall shape was moving along the balcony. Like a creature of darkness, The Shadow had arrived from the void. He had not started for Five Towers as early as had Joe Cardona. Like the detective, The Shadow had gained his evening’s destination only to find that death had already fallen.
A window opened softly in the room that adjoined the living room. A creature of stealth, the black-garbed phantom entered. His footsteps were noiseless; even the swish of his black cloak was not apparent as The Shadow crossed the floor.
The Shadow went by the side entrance of the living room. No one even glimpsed his gliding shape. He arrived at the far end of the hallway. There his gleaming eyes saw the very sight which Joe Cardona was so carefully observing.
Hubert’s body on the floor; beyond the dead servant, the form of the dead Hindu, whom The Shadow knew was Tippu. The steel door also came within The Shadow’s notice. Then, his cloak blanketing him like a shroud, The Shadow moved away.
Doctor Lysander Dubrong and Stephen Gloucester returned into the living room via the side door. They took chairs, and looked toward Joe Cardona. Neither had noted a gliding shape that had followed them. Beyond the curtained doorway, The Shadow was looking in upon the quiz that was to come.
“Mrs. Casslin?” queried Cardona.
“Resting,” replied Dubrong suavely. “I gave her an opiate. The maids are in attendance.”
“All right,” decided Cardona. “I shall ask you, Mr. Gloucester, to repeat the brief statement which you gave me on arrival. After that, we shall have the testimony of the others present.”
Cardona made notes as Gloucester began. The other persons gave their versions all were corroborations of what Gloucester said. It was Yvonne Lydell who added the only testimony that was remarkable.
As the girl began to speak, Bart Melken’s hand grip tightened on her wrist. Nevertheless, the girl kept on. Bart relaxed his hold, and chewed his lips.
“I saw someone on the balcony,” stated Yvonne. “Just as Mr. Casslin left to go back to the tower, I happened to glance in that direction. I saw a dark face and gleaming eyes.”
“A Hindu?” asked Cardona quickly.
“I think so,” said the girl.
“Why didn’t you say something then?” quizzed Cardona.
Bart Melken’s grip again tightened on Yvonne’s wrist. The detective did not observe the action. Bart was on the other side of the girl. Doctor Lysander Dubrong, however, detected the movement. Nor were his eyes the only ones that made the observation. Peering from the curtain, just beyond the spot where Dubrong was seated, The Shadow also saw.
“I intended to tell Mr. Casslin,” announced Yvonne frankly. “However, he had already left the room. I intended to speak to him when he returned, for he had mentioned that a Hindu in Bombay was anxious to obtain his diamond. Then all the excitement happened.”
Cardona stared at the girl. He saw no reason to doubt Yvonne’s testimony. It had been voluntary. There was a naivete in Yvonne’s expression that added to her simple beauty. Cardona, as he jotted down the point that Yvonne had mentioned, felt that he had gained a valuable bit of evidence, one that would be useful later on.
“Did anyone else see a prowler by the window?” questioned the detective.
There was no reply. Bart Melken did not speak. When Yvonne made no further comment, the young man was relieved. He had not wanted Yvonne to mention that she had seen someone outside the window. However, the girl had omitted the one point that worried Bart the most: the fact that she had spoken to him of the face she had seen.