His last crash sent Cardona sprawling halfway across the room. The panel was shut; there was no trace of the elevator. Yet Cardona, as he rose to his hands and knees, never gave a thought to the side of the room where the paneling was located.
The Shadow had left the lights burning. Cardona, his face agape, was staring toward the couch. Growler Gluck, his own jaw dropped, was looking in the same direction. Both were astounded by the sight of Dobey Blitz’s body. Joe Cardona had come to arrest a killer. He had found his man murdered!
A BIG limousine was pulling up at the Cobalt Club. A man in evening clothes alighted and ordered the chauffeur to park the car and wait until called. The doorman bowed as the tall club-member strolled into the building. The character of The Shadow had vanished for the present. It had been replaced by the guise of Lamont Cranston. Nonchalant and leisurely, the globe-trotting millionaire was arriving to play bridge with Commissioner Wainwright Barth. A smile showed on thin lips as keen eyes noted the clock inside the lobby of the club. The hands showed twenty-eight minutes after eight.
Despite the swift and exciting adventures of The Shadow; despite the call of danger and the beck of death, Lamont Cranston had arrived two minutes before the time appointed.
Welcomers arose as Cranston appeared in the card room. The millionaire was given a seat at the bridge table. The play began. Yet while he studied his cards, Lamont Cranston seemed keenly thoughtful.
Wainwright Barth noted it, as he stared through his pince-nez spectacles. The commissioner wondered what was on the other player’s mind.
The brain of The Shadow was at work. Shrewdly, the master sleuth was adding a new finding to his survey of crime. He was considering the subject of Dobey Blitz’s murder. He was fitting the big shot’s death into the scheme of things.
What bearing did that murder have on events that now were brewing? The Shadow was linking his recollections of last night’s taxi ride with his recent trip by elevator to Dobey’s private room.
A smile showed on thin lips as Lamont Cranston completed the playing of a hand. Wainwright Barth, nodding approvingly, thought that his partner was smiling because he had made a grand slam. He did not know that Cranston was thinking of another game.
Crime, not bridge, was The Shadow’s forte. That was why he was here, guised as Lamont Cranston. For the climax, when it came, would require Wainwright Barth. As companion of the police commissioner, The Shadow would be present.
CHAPTER XIX. THE LAW MOVES
“HERE, behind this bookcase.”
The speaker was Tobias Hildreth. He was standing in his library. The banker was talking to Detective Sergeant Markham. He was explaining why he had required the services of a man from headquarters.
“I shall be in the study,” continued Hildreth. “The closet in the corner is always locked and I have the key. I shall be inside the closet to-night, ready to unlock it from the inside.”
“And Jodelle?” inquired Markham.
“Jodelle is already stationed,” explained Hildreth. “That is why you have not seen him. He is in the hallway, outside the side door that leads into the study.”
“I see.”
“Lowdy will usher Wilking into the study, through this room. You, of course, are going to be out of sight. When Lowdy comes back, he will close the door.”
“Then I move up?”
“Yes. To the study door. Thus there will be three of us — all behind doors. I shall be in the closet; Jodelle in the hall; you in the library.”
“You will move first?”
“Yes. I shall allow a few minutes. I believe that my niece has told everything to Wilking. He will find the combination of the vault. He will open the door. Meanwhile, I shall softly unlock the door of the closet to peer out.
“I shall challenge Wilking. You and Jodelle will then come to my aid. I hope that I can rely upon you, Markham. I wanted Cardona to come here, because much will depend upon exact testimony.”
“Count on me, Mr. Hildreth. If Wilking tries to pull anything, we’ll nab him with the goods.”
“It is a matter for the law. Jodelle told me that after I talked to my niece last night. I realized that I made a mistake in telling her so much. So the only thing to do was to turn it all into a trap for Wilking.”
A muffled bell sounded. Hildreth pushed Markham behind the bookcase. The millionaire scurried into the study. The bell rang again, impatiently. Soon Lowdy appeared, conducting Wally Wilking through the library into the study.
AS soon as the servant had lumbered back toward the front hall, Markham crept from behind the bookcase. Lowdy had closed the door to the study. A clock in the library began its chiming while Markham was moving forward. It was giving the three-quarter hour. It lacked fifteen minutes to nine o’clock.
Wally Wilking was pale and nervous as he stood in Hildreth’s study. He held his cigarette holder between his lips, but he was not smoking. The young man let his right hand slip into his coat pocket. He went toward the closet and tried the door with his left. Then he came back to the desk.
Wally opened the top drawer on the right. He found the cigar box and fished among the perfectos until he gained the card he sought. He went to the door of the vault. Studying the combination, he began to turn the knob. The vault opened.
A satisfied gasp came from Wilking’s tense lips. He reached out with his right hand and pulled open the small drawer that bore the letter W. He snatched a stack of papers and turned back into the room. He laid the papers on the desk and began to paw through them.
A slight click made Wilking look up. The door of the closet had opened. There stood Tobias Hildreth, holding a revolver in his hand. The banker was quivering with excitement as he voiced his challenge.
“What are you up to, Wilking?”
Wally sprang clear of the desk, toward the side door of the room. He shot his hand to his coat pocket, just as Hildreth pounced upon him. As he flashed a revolver into view, Wally gave a poke with his left hand. As Hildreth staggered, two doors swung open. Gorton Jodelle bounded in from one; Detective Sergeant Markham from the other.
WALLY had made no attempt to shoot Hildreth. It was the sight of the banker’s gun that had made him draw his own. But the fact that Wally had a revolver in hand brought Jodelle and Markham swiftly on him. Wally went down under the attack, as Jodelle, the nearer of his assailants, wrenched the revolver from his hand.
“Help Mr. Hildreth!” exclaimed the investigator, as he pinioned Wally’s arms. “I’ve got Wilking!”
Markham turned. Hildreth had slumped to the floor. Wally’s blow had staggered the portly banker; but Hildreth was coming to his feet as Markham sought to aid him. When Markham again turned round, he saw Wally Wilking rising to his feet while Jodelle covered the young man with a revolver.
“You’ll want this,” said Jodelle, handing Markham a second gun with his left hand. “That’s the gat I took away from him. Put it in your pocket.”
Markham carried the weapon to the light. He studied it momentarily; then dropped it in his left pocket with a nod. Coming back, he spoke to Hildreth.
“Want me to take him down to headquarters?” questioned the detective sergeant. “Attempted burglary, concealed deadly weapons — that’s plenty to hold him on.”
He eyed Wally Wilking as the young man slumped into a chair. All fight seemed gone from him. Jodelle lowered his own gun and stood by.
“No,” declared Hildreth, “it would be better to hold him here. I should like to have Detective Cardona come here; also Commissioner Barth. They might want to quiz Wilking on this very spot.”
Markham nodded. He picked up the telephone and called headquarters, while Jodelle kept an eye on Wilking. After a short interval, Markham announced that Cardona was not there. He jiggled the hook for another number.