“Through such a course, Shan Kwan could gain great power. He could break down all the progress that I have made. His recruits would come from every class. Wealth would pour into his coffers, yielded by honest Chinese who would fear the mandarin’s strength. To prevent such calamity, I used every measure to see that the Fate Joss went where Shan Kwan could not gain it.
“Through a friend in San Francisco, I gained the services of Satsu — not to injure Laudring, but to protect him. When Chichester Laudring took the Joss to Chicago, Satsu reported to another of my friends in that city. The idol was sold to a millionaire named Dustin Clabb. It was bestowed within a massive vault. I believed then that Shan Kwan could never gain it.”
Before he continued, Doctor Tam shook his head; his face was grave as he recalled the episode that followed.
“My man in Chicago was too zealous,” remarked the square-jawed Chinaman. “He and his friends watched Dustin Clabb after the millionaire had bought the Joss. Clabb must have known it and decided that he would be unwise to keep the Joss. He summoned Raymond Roucard, a man of doubtful integrity, and arranged with him to remove the Fate Joss. The deed was done so quickly that my friends could not follow; they learned only that Clabb had given Roucard the Joss and paid him to get rid of it.”
“The circumstances are plain,” stated The Shadow quietly. “The police are still perplexed about the house that Laudring occupied. They found a letter from a lawyer who does not exist, saying that the house was a gift from an uncle who has since been proven fictitious.”
DOCTOR TAM blinked at these details. The Shadow had gained them from Clyde Burke’s reports. The facts had not as yet been printed.
“Clabb does not own the house,” added The Shadow. “Roucard evidently knew of it and suggested that he would place the Fate Joss there. Clabb probably insisted that the idol be returned to Laudring anonymously.” This time, Doctor Tam nodded.
“That much I guessed,” he affirmed. “But when Roucard came to Chinatown; when he visited Shan Kwan, I knew that he was scheming to make extra profit through another sale.”
“Fifty thousand dollars was the price,” declared The Shadow. “That sum gained, Roucard bluffed Laudring into giving him the Joss.”
“You have learned much,” said Tam, with a bow. “I shall add the details that Satsu gave me. When Laudring found the Fate Joss, Satsu was with him; and Satsu was prompt to inform me of the fact. I sent men to the house — Tuan and Leng — that they might watch.
“Roucard arrived; his talk frightened Laudring. There was no mention of a price. The Joss was removed by Roucard’s truckmen. Tuan and Leng followed them to the old Calumet Theater. The Fate Joss and the War Dogs were left there, to be picked up by Shan Kwan.
“I acted promptly. My own truck gathered the crates before Shan Kwan’s carriers arrived. Tuan — Leng — and others — they served me capably by taking the Fate Joss and the cannons back to Laudring’s. Satsu unbarred the cellar while his master was asleep. He barred it after the Joss and the cannons were unloaded.
“Shan Kwan had no watchers at Laudring’s. I felt sure that he did not know from where the Joss had come. Satsu was to leave with Laudring the next day. All seemed well; but I had reckoned wrong.”
“Regarding Shan Kwan,” inserted The Shadow. “He had guessed that Roucard would keep the money. He also suspected the possibility of a double cross. He called Roucard while I was listening on the telephone. Hoang Fu, watching from outside the hotel, must have seen the lights that indicated Roucard’s return. Hoang Fu entered. He slew and robbed. He escaped me that night.”
“Hoang Fu was the last of my deserters,” nodded Doctor Tam. “He had acted strangely when I talked with him, early on that evening. Noy Dow saw me cross the name of Hoang Fu from my list.”
“With the money,” revealed The Shadow, “were papers. Hoang Fu took all from Roucard; Laudring’s address was certainly mentioned in the papers.”
“And they went to Shan Kwan,” observed Tam, “through Hoang Fu. That was the reason why Hoang Fu lurked at Laudring’s the next day, awaiting darkness so that he might kill. Others were ready to enter afterward, that they might search for the Fate Joss. Shan Kwan, regaining the fifty thousand dollars from Laudring, believed that Roucard might not have gone to the house at all.”
Aiding The Shadow, Doctor Tam was piecing new portions of the puzzling past. He had followed The Shadow’s lead; the facts were understood. In his next statement, however, Doctor Tam was apologetic.
“I DID not know that Shan Kwan had gained Laudring’s address,” he explained, in sober fashion. “Nor did Satsu. He thought that Laudring was safe. Purely by chance, Laudring discovered that the Joss had again reached his cellar. He wanted to call the police; Satsu went out, pretending that he was going to the precinct. Unwittingly, Satsu paved the way for Hoang Fu’s entry.
“Satsu talked to me. I told him to delay until my men arrived. He saw Shan Kwan’s searchers arrive and mistook them for my servants. He went back to the house; he saw you battle with the mandarin’s men. Satsu had intended to go straight to the cellar; it was the entry of five enemies — by the back door — that made him hide instead.
“My men — Tuan, Leng and the others — had experienced delay. Satsu was bewildered. Trapped by Cardona; learning that Laudring had called headquarters, he decided to tell much that he knew. He led his captors to the cellar, only to find that the Fate Joss had vanished.”
Gazing inquiringly, Doctor Tam saw the semblance of a smile upon The Shadow’s disguised lips. The physician understood that the Joss had been removed by agents of The Shadow.
“My men arrived in their truck,” said Tam. “The police chased them; they escaped. Satsu, believing that the law would consider his story false, was quick to make flight of his own. He came to me; his only clue was a conversation that he had heard a young man make, across the telephone.
“Words of a place some thirty blocks south. Between us, Satsu and I decided that it must be the Howland Garage. We watched there — with Tuan and Leng aboard the truck. We captured the two men who took it from the garage. I left them here in the care of Noy Dow, while Satsu and I drove the truck to Scranton. It was I who sent the telegram for which the letter called. The telegram signed Dyke.
“I wondered all the while why Americans would have served Shan Kwan. I know now that the two men were yours; had I known it last night, I would not have seized them. I intended to question them on my return. Haste was not needed; for if Shan Kwan held the Joss, long planning would be required to regain it.”
AS he finished his explanation, Doctor Tam pressed the buzzer twice. The door opened and Noy Dow entered, blinking anxiously through his spectacles. In that brief interval, The Shadow had again donned cloak and hat. Noy Dow saw his black shape rising as Doctor Tam moved upward from behind the desk.
“Lead the way, Noy Dow,” ordered Tam. “We shall visit the prisoners.”
Noy Dow hesitated; then opened the rear panel. He conducted Doctor Tam and The Shadow through a barren hallway and unlocked the door of the prison room. Entering, Noy Dow turned on the light. He blinked, staring in feigned amazement at the empty room.
Doctor Tam gasped. Trembling, the physician faced The Shadow. Like Satsu, with the police in Laudring’s cellar, Doctor Tam was fearful that his story would not be believed. He heard a grim laugh from The Shadow’s lips; a tone that was mirthless. Words failed as the physician tried to utter them; but his statement was unnecessary.
The Shadow’s eyes were fixed on the paling, square-jawed face. Keenly, The Shadow recognized that Tam’s terror was real; that it was the fright that comes to a man who has dealt honestly, only to find himself the victim of false circumstantial evidence. Solemnly, The Shadow spoke.