The Shadow had left! There was still a chance for flight! Moreover, it meant death for these invaders who represented the law that Lawsham despised!
A gun spurted from the stairway. That shot was aimed three inches above Lawsham's right hand. It cracked a bottle filled with purplish fluid, sent the liquid deluging to the floor. Lawsham jolted in stark surprise, as if he had received the bullet himself. As he clawed the air with his empty right hand, he lost his grip on the bottle in his left.
The second container shattered. Thick, blackish fluid mingled with the purple. A puff of smoke filled the test room; flames spurted everywhere, licking along the shelves. More chemicals exploded in a miniature cannonade.
Fire roared from the little room, coming in furious spurts. Detectives snatched up extinguishers from the laboratory, hoping to confine the blaze to the smoke-filled test room. In that, they were successful, although the place had the appearance of a turbulent volcano.
Amid the roar of the flames came a fade of wild-screeched shouts, that were gone with the man who uttered them, long before the deluge of flame had subsided.
Those shrieks were the last of Uriah Lawsham, as the evil professor perished in his self-made hell.
CHAPTER XXI. THE DEAD RETURN
THERE was a laugh, mirthless as a knell, that sounded when Professor Lawsham perished. It came from the blackness of the stairway. Listening detectives heard it, but could not guess its source.
For the stairway, itself, was void by the time those echoes faded, like the dwindling crackles of the flame.
The Shadow had conquered crime; he had been present to stifle a master fiend's last thrust. The Shadow was gone.
Again, his departure told of things to come.
The next sensation in the episode of the Dead Who Lived was the sudden and remarkable recovery of all the victims who had inhaled the sleep gas. It took place within the next few hours, under the supervision of Doctor Rupert Sayre.
First to revive were Harry Vincent and Arlene Delton, whose stay under the power of the death sleep had been a short one. Thurnig, Brellick and Mandor were more difficult cases; but Sayre's skill eased them back to life, thanks to the antidote that The Shadow provided.
The three investors were well enough, the next day, to read the newspaper reports that supplied the final links to crime; for Sayre had also revived the crooks who served Quill Baxton, and for once, such thugs were telling the police everything they knew.
That departure from underworld tradition was attributed to the after effects of the sleep gas; but the theory was wrong. What loosened the tongues of all the crooks was their recollection of the mighty battler who had overpowered them single-handed, and put them among the Dead Who Lived.
The revived crooks wanted no more conflict with The Shadow. To avoid it, they talked, even admitting their part in murder, rather than again incur The Shadow's wrath.
In fact, Sayre's observations indicated that the sleep gas left no after effects upon persons who had been strong enough to stand the original treatment. Such talk had been a pretext on the part of Professor Lawsham, to induce Dick Remingwood to stay in Hadley at the crook-manned sanitarium.
The spell of the sleep gas was ended. Those longest under its influence were wholly recovered, except for weakness that was attributed to lack of recent nourishment.
TWO days later, at the hospital, Doctor Sayre allowed the three investors to hold a brief conference.
James Mandor showed the options to Martin Brellick and George Thurnig, explaining that the papers had been mysteriously delivered to him. The three discussed other matters, that were finally left entirely to Mandor.
That led to a meeting between James Mandor and Dick Remingwood.
Himself the proven owner of the formula for the cheap production of synthetic rubber, Dick held the very key that the investors wanted. The process was his, not Lawsham's, and he was free to discuss new terms. They were fair enough, and Mandor eagerly accepted them.
The proposed company was incorporated, with Dick as an equal shareholder. The directors - Mandor, Brellick, and Thurnig - forthwith elected him president. Dick was given full charge of production, while their task was to raise additional capital, a matter which offered very little difficulty.
Among those desirous of buying stock in the new concern was Lamont Cranston, a millionaire whose ability at picking good investments led many to follow his lead. Again, the hand of The Shadow was visible in the affairs of the Dead Who Lived.
To Dick Remingwood, however, there came a greater reward than any that promise of wealth could produce. That was his marriage to Arlene Delton, a quiet ceremony attended by only a few friends, Harry Vincent among them.
The bride and groom were aboard a liner, ready to depart for a long West Indies cruise, when Harry joined them, to see them off. They were seated in the spacious lounge, when they heard a steward's calclass="underline"
"All ashore!"
Harry raised his glass. He gave a toast:
"To the honeymoon!"
Dick shook his head. He smiled at Arlene. She knew the words that were in her husband's mind.
It was Arlene who spoke them, her tone filled with fervent recollection of the person whose deeds had brought this final happiness:
"To The Shadow!"
THE END