Then what? Harbeck’s chief would arrive! If the police were there when he landed, he could be captured on the ground! This was opportunity.
Joe Cardona quickly formulated his plan. He needed no help right away. His two men must remain here to grab Slips Harbeck. That was essential to Cardona’s present scheme. It would obviate the possibility of communication between Slips and the man above.
The detective turned and walked rapidly along the street. His mind was set. He would visit Gardner Joyce’s office in the Sharon Building. He would receive the message and summon Harbeck’s chief. There would be time then to call other detectives and have them stationed outside the office building. They could follow the visitor in; Joe himself could make the capture.
Cardona reached a side street where his police car was parked. He leaped to the wheel and drove away. He was confident that his men would do the work at Red Mike’s. In this belief, Cardona was right.
AT that very moment, Slips Harbeck was sauntering from the speakeasy. The gangster never reached the alley where he intended to go. The detectives dropped upon him as they heard Gawky Tyson’s low whistle.
Slips fell under the attack. His mad swing brought a stunning blow to the back of his head. The detectives dragged him away.
Slips Harbeck was in the hands of the police. No one was the wiser. He was being taken to headquarters. It was there that Joe Cardona expected to find him later on. The ace detective had planned well.
Cardona was heading for another goal, satisfied that all would be well tonight. He thought that he knew all the plans involved. He, alone, could know the situation that existed.
Little did Cardona suspect that Slips Harbeck’s plans had been purposely broadcast for listening ears; that they had been heard by another man than Gawky Tyson. Not for a moment did Cardona suppose that a man who had sauntered from the speakeasy prior to Gawky’s appearance had been an agent of The Shadow!
Cliff Marsland was performing a duty tonight; and nothing had interfered with him. The situation that lay ahead was planned as a battle of brains between two master minds — Professor Folcroft Urlich and The Shadow.
Joe Cardona, confident of his own shrewdness, was nothing more than an unexpected factor that had come into the field. Unsuspecting, he was entering the battle ground. What would the outcome be?
The answer to that question was coming. It would occur after the ace detective arrived at the office in the Sharon Building!
CHAPTER XI. THE SILENT OFFICE
THE tiny beam of a little flashlight appeared upon the surface of a glass-paneled door. It revealed the number 2020. The light swung downward. A concentrated circle shone steadily upon the lock. A black-gloved hand appeared with a tiny pick of steel.
Deft fingers used the instrument to probe the lock. Under The Shadow’s touch, the door of Gardner Joyce’s office yielded. It opened inward and closed. A soft laugh sounded in the darkness.
Finding his way with the shaft of light, The Shadow reached the door of the inner office. He stopped to make a careful inspection.
All was well. The Shadow entered and let his light range across the desk. The beam showed inkstand, large blotter pad, calendar, and telephone.
There were no signs of a trap tonight. Why should one exist? At Barnsworth, the intention had been to take a life. Slips Harbeck and gangsters could not have been summoned there to serve in case the death snare failed.
Here, in Joyce’s office, the intention was theft. Slips Harbeck was coming there alone. Unless The Shadow knew that the explosive desk at Barnsworth’s had been prepared for him, and not the Wall Street man, he could suspect nothing here. Thus had Professor Folcroft Urlich reasoned.
The inspection of the probing light showed that all was serene. Nevertheless, The Shadow was exacting as he examined the drawers of the desk. His pick enabled him to open them, and he used his light to glance through the papers that he discovered. All were arranged in orderly fashion. There was nothing that resembled a contract among them.
Still, The Shadow waited. It was evident that he, like Cardona, had evolved the plan of luring Slips Harbeck’s chief to this spot. No telephone call had come as yet. The light glimmered on the telephone, going over the instrument carefully. Suddenly it went out.
The keen ears of The Shadow had detected a sound in the outer office, despite the fact that the secret investigator had partly closed the inner door behind him. With no sound other than a swish, The Shadow reached the outer office and lingered there.
Some one was working on the outer door. A man was trying to remove the glass panel, which was held in place only by a molding. The Shadow waited. He could not see through the frosted glass. His natural assumption was that Slips Harbeck was attempting this mode of entry.
The work went on. The panel began to waver as the worker pried one side loose. Then, apparently fearing that he would break the glass, the man started anew upon the molding. At last, the glass came free. It was set upon the floor; a hand came through the door, and turned the inner knob.
WHEN the door opened, The Shadow was drawing back into the darkness. In a far corner of the room, his tall figure waited, invisible. The man at the door was replacing the glass panel. This was short work.
Finishing, he strode across the office.
Had he turned on the light, he probably would not have seen The Shadow, for the strange being who had come there before him was in a position of total obscurity. But the entrant’s objective was the inner office. Reaching it, he half closed the door behind him, and turned on a light.
It was then that The Shadow moved, advancing to a spot where he could view the scene within, and still stay in the cover of the darkness formed by the outer room. Through the opening by the door, burning eyes spied the man who had entered.
It was not Slips Harbeck. Detective Cardona was at Gardner Joyce’s desk!
The sleuth was going over the same ground that The Shadow had covered, searching every drawer in hope of discovering the contract. Failing, Cardona stood thoughtfully beside the desk.
He was wondering whether or not some one had come here in Slips Harbeck’s place; but as he reviewed events, he was satisfied that no one could have come.
It had been a considerable trek from Red Mike’s to the Sharon Building. But Joe was sure that he had made the journey in less time than Slips Harbeck could have accomplished it. The absence of the contract pleased the sleuth. It reminded him of the signal that would bring Slips Harbeck’s chief rushing to this spot.
Cardona reached for the telephone. His intention was to call headquarters and summon other men to be on hand.
He stopped before he grasped the instrument. That course would be inadvisable. Suppose that the call should happen to be made while he was phoning? The busy signal might scare off the man who was communicating with this office.
No; the call to headquarters could wait. Mumbling half aloud, Joe repeated the reply that he intended to give to the unknown caller:
“Nothing doing.”
The detective smiled. That would bring the big shot. The door was unlocked; ready for his arrival. He would enter to find Joe Cardona instead of Slips Harbeck. Arrest would result; the impending chain of crime would be ended. Credit to Joe Cardona; commendation from Commissioner Ralph Weston. The situation seemed certain as the detective considered it, standing in the silent office.
MINUTES drifted by, and Cardona began to feel uneasy. He had a sensation that eyes were watching him. He turned and peered through the door into the outer office. He saw nothing but blackness.
Swiftly, the detective stepped to the door. His flashlight was in his left hand, his revolver in his right. He turned on the glimmer, pushed open the door, and let the rays sweep the walls. He saw no sign of a hidden watcher. Long, shadowy blotches appeared as the light circled. They revealed no person.