He could see the form of Dick Terry standing by the rajah's throne. He could see the dead body of Benjamin Castelle. He could see the sitters drawing away in fright to the farther corner of the room. He could not see the tall form of The Shadow, in the guise of Thomas Telford. But he did see Rajah Brahman cowering away from a menace, and he caught the hunted gleam in the mystic's eyes. Slowly, cautiously, the mob leader peered around the corner of the doorway. He was seeking to discover the form that he knew must be beside the wall. His automatic was dark and sullen. Did The Shadow know the danger that was coming?
The question was never answered, for Dick Terry acted at that moment. Gleason, intent upon his purpose, had ignored Dick, who was standing silent and alone.
Dick saw the muzzle of the automatic against the edge of the doorway. He quickly lifted his right arm and his short-barreled revolver responded to the trigger. A bullet crashed the wall an inch from Barney Gleason's hand.
It was the signal of battle!
Barney Gleason dropped back and aimed at the new enemy. Dick Terry made a quick dive for the shelter of the rajah's throne. Gleason, seeing him out of action, leaped into the seance room, the other gangster at his heels.
The gang leader's automatic was aimed toward The Shadow. Out of its mouth came barking, hasty shots, that Gleason hoped would end the formidable foe.
But The Shadow, close against the wall, was safe from those wild shots. His own automatic replied the moment that Barney Gleason leaped out from cover. The gang leader fell, a bullet through his stomach. Cursing, coughing, he still kept up his futile fire as he lay, half crawling, on the floor. The effort marred his aim. His bullets were wide of their mark.
With one automatic, The Shadow still covered Rajah Brahman at the end of the room. With the other, he calmly fired two quick shots that dropped the man who had followed Barney Gleason. The Shadow's bullets struck just as the man made a futile leap back toward the other room. Following The Shadow's shots came quick reports from behind the throne. Dick Terry had opened fire on the other mobsters, coming in from the reception room.
The Shadow fired one last shot that lowered Barney Gleason's weak arm; then he swirled toward the new menace. The gangsters were ducking back to safety. Dick had them covered. The Shadow's action gave Rajah Brahman his opportunity. Had he attempted to draw his revolver and fire, he would have been clipped by The Shadow. But he performed a different action that was a split second faster.
He leaped for the shelter of the huge metal Buddha at the end of the room. He reached it in safety. The Shadow's pursuing shot clipped the side of the huge image.
Here Rajah Brahman waited. He was safe! But he had not reckoned with his amazing foe. While Terry covered the doorway against reinforcements, The Shadow strode across the room, with both automatics covering the metal idol.
Rajah Brahman took the only course. He swung his revolver past the side of the Buddha, and fired as he raised his hand. His first bullet was a wild hope. The second seared The Shadow's sleeve. The third did not follow.
Crack!
The Shadow's automatic had answered with a bullet that took off the rajah's trigger finger. The revolver dropped to the floor.
The crooked medium was helpless behind the protecting Buddha!
At that instant, gunfire broke out in another part of the apartment. Cardona and his men had entered. They were encountering the gangsters in the reception room.
The Shadow, turning momentarily, spied a sight that no one else saw — for all eyes had turned in the new direction.
Coming through the floor of the spirit cabinet, revolver in hand, was Imam Singh. The servant had been bound by Dick Terry. He had escaped and had climbed the ladder to the trapdoor that led to the spirit cabinet.
The bottom of the cabinet was a foot above the floor, but it, too, opened, and its broad base obscured a view of the center spot beneath.
Incongruous in the character of Geoffrey Garwood, Imam Singh was nevertheless a figure of hatred as he raised his gun to fire at Dick Terry.
The Shadow ended this menace. He sprawled Imam Singh with a bullet in his shoulder, and as the false Hindu wavered, The Shadow leaped forward and flung him to the floor of the room. Joe Cardona came dashing in the door. He saw the tall form of Thomas Telford — whom he did not recognize as The Shadow — with the curtains of the cabinet closing about it. Before he could understand this, Cardona spied Rajah Brahman, grabbing up his revolver and leaping back for the safety of the Buddha. The detective opened a volley. His bullets were sure. Rajah Brahman fell dead.
Dick Terry was struggling with Imam Singh, trying to capture the man alive. But the man broke away, and snatched his gun from the floor. He aimed at Joe Cardona but the detective dropped him with a shot from close range.
The action of Imam Singh showed Cardona that Dick Terry was on the side of justice. The young man dropped his gun when he saw that the detective was safe.
Joe Cardona, seeing no other foes, snatched away the curtains of the spirit cabinet. The Shadow was gone! He had used Rajah Brahman's own trapdoor to effect his exit.
Chapter XXII — The Clean-Up
The clean-up of the Spook Ring was a natural consequence of the battle at Rajah Brahman's apartment. With Joe Cardona and his men in complete control, the dead bodies and the contents of the apartment were striking proofs of the strength that the evil organization had possessed. Dick Terry told a valuable story. He recounted his rescue from Barney Gleason's mob. He told how he had been advised to lay low; how Thomas Telford— whom Dick Terry did not name as The Shadow — had arranged the surprise at Rajah Brahman's.
Dick had received a key from Telford. It enabled him to get into the storeroom, where he had lain in wait for Imam Singh.
Telford, whose part had been so great, had simply chosen to disappear. Joe Cardona would have liked him for a witness, but well did he know that the man would never be located. For Joe Cardona realized that this mysterious man, whose identity proved to be nonexistent, was actually The Shadow. Working alone, he had completely deceived the crafty fakers.
Rajah Brahman was identified as Bert Clutten; Imam Singh as a young Italian named Tony Petruchi. The two had been working a spins graft for years.
Lining up with Benjamin Castelle, the organizer who had raised the racket to the million-dollar class, they had plied their crooked trade to the utmost.
Martin Slade's complete confession had told everything. A crafty murderer, Slade had arranged the deaths of various innocent persons. Rajah Brahman's bluebook and his filing cases gave hints of contemplated deaths that were now frustrated forever.
When Cardona had found the trapdoor to the floor below, and had realized the method of The Shadow's vanishing, he descended. He discovered the storeroom with its equipment. Articles of disguise— false and fraudulent devices — all sorts of paraphernalia that went with the crooked trade. What interested Cardona particularly was a chair which he recognized as the one that Professor Jacques had been tied in, that night at the Dalban. Now, when the detective examined the chair, he found that one arm rattled. Close inspection showed that the arms lifted off completely; but went back automatically. That trick chair marked Jacques as the slayer of Herbert Harvey. The medium, caught, confessed what had happened.
Harvey, a confederate who supplied him with information, had carried the luminous knife. Seeing trouble, Jacques had raised his arms in the dark and had obtained the knife from Harvey. The medium's legs still remained bound to the chair.
When Harvey struggled with the unknown assailant whom Cardona knew must have been The Shadow — Jacques struck at the enemy. But a twist in the dark had sent the knife into the body of his own confederate. Losing hold of the knife, Jacques had quickly shoved the chair arms back into place. Cardona had missed the trick then. He saw it now. For The Shadow had left an arm loose for him to find.