MURDER BY MAGIC .......................................................................................................................................1

Maxwell Grant.........................................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER I. CIGAM SPELLS MAGIC................................................................................................1

CHAPTER II. Louie the Grift didn't have one of Cigam's fiftycent gadgets.......................................4

Chapter III ................................................................................................................................................8

CHAPTER IV........................................................................................................................................12

CHAPTER V.........................................................................................................................................16

CHAPTER VI........................................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER VII .......................................................................................................................................23

CHAPTER VIII.....................................................................................................................................26

CHAPTER IX........................................................................................................................................29

CHAPTER X.........................................................................................................................................33

CHAPTER XI........................................................................................................................................37

CHAPTER XII .......................................................................................................................................39

CHAPTER XIII.....................................................................................................................................42

CHAPTER XIV.....................................................................................................................................45

CHAPTER XV......................................................................................................................................48

CHAPTER XVI.....................................................................................................................................53

CHAPTER XVII ....................................................................................................................................56

CHAPTER XVIII ...................................................................................................................................60

CHAPTER XIX.....................................................................................................................................63

CHAPTER XX......................................................................................................................................66

Cigam was a neat name for a magic shop, even though it wasn't the name of the man who ran the place.

Spelling Magic backward to form the word Cigam, was an old gag, perhaps, but it was new to the general

And Cigam was making a play for the general trade, even to demonstrating tricks in his second floor front

window, which drew attention and customers from the street. He was rather clever, this drab proprietor

It was six o'clock and the shop was packed because this was a Saturday afternoon. Usually though, the crowd

began to thin before six, which was the closing hour, but today Cigam couldn't get rid of the customers.

Maybe it was because this Saturday fell on the full of the moon, or possibly it was on account of the show

that the Universal Wizards Association had scheduled for tomorrow night. Some of Cigam's customers were

at least buying tickets for the show, even though they weren't purchasing any of the magical apparatus with

Youngsters in short pants were gawking into the glasstopped counters trying to guess the purposes of the

gimmicks they saw displayed there. Others, a few years older, were dropping billiard balls and thimbles as

Over in a corner, Val Varno was performing deft onehand cuts with a pack of cards, winning enthusiastic

acclaim from an adolescent gallery whose quickchange voices tempted Cigam to sell them ventriloquist

What bothered Cigam even more was the private conference between Glanville Frost and Zed Zito. Suave

and persuasive, Frost was a manufacturer of magical apparatus who looked as though he could sell anything.

Blunt, challenging Zito was a performer who didn't want to be sold. Nevertheless, Cigam didn't like to have

Big, imposing, firm of eye and jaw, Winstrom looked like the business magnate that he was. Brushing

through the juvenile customers as he would a flock of office boys, Winstrom arrived at the counter, laid down

"Sorry, Mr. Winstrom," Cigam apologized. "I haven't had a chance to pack the stuff you want. If you can

Winstrom looked around the shop and its confusion caused a sympathetic smile to appear on his broad lips.

Waving for Cigam to keep the money, Winstrom gave an obliging nod, and turned toward the door. He was

blocked off by a squad of whippersnappers who were pouncing for the counter telephone, only to have

"If it's six o'clock, this shop is closed," he asserted, "and that's official. Use the phone in the lunch room

Across the street a calmfaced gentleman was sitting in the window of the lunch room finishing a cup of

coffee while he idly studied Cigam's second floor shop, or as much of it as could be seen through the upstairs

The gentleman's name was Lamont Cranston and he could easily have learned all that was happening in

Cigam's by going up there, but in that case he would have missed something else that was happening in the

Two rather obnoxious characters were also keeping their eyes on Cigam's without realizing that Cranston had

Familiarly, these two characters were known as Louie the Grift and Sideface Sam and they represented what

might have been termed in better circles a renaissance of the gangster epoch in American history.

Louie the Grift saw Mr. Winstrom come out the street door beneath Cigam's shop and get into a chauffeured

"There goes the big dough customer." It was the Grift who said it. "I'll bet he left a sheaf of moola with

"Peel an eye upstairs," suggested Sideface, speaking from the side of his mouth that he wasn't feeding with a

The upstairs window showed Cigam opening an oldfashioned safe which had a door that unfortunately

opened in the other direction. Cigam was equally unfortunate in counting his cash slowly and twice before

Having seen all they wanted in Cigam's window, neither Sideface nor the Grift bothered to watch the lights

go out. It was the astute Mr. Cranston who studied that procedure and later saw Cigam come out the street

Those three were recognizable at a distance, even in the dusk. From left to right they were:

Val Varno, master manipulator, whose offer of five thousand dollars to anyone who could duplicate his skill

at sleight of hand had never been challenged, chiefly because it was known that Varno didn't have the money.

Glanville Frost, creator and manufacturer of more magical tricks and illusions than any other inventive

Zed Zito, hypnotist, mentalist and manager of the famed Miss Libra whose uncanny faculty had baffled every

scientist who had witnessed her amazing performances which by a peculiar coincidence had never excited

Cranston didn't blame Cigam for locking the street door. Only Cigam should have had more judgment than to

use a type of padlock that anybody could open with one of the gadgets that Cigam himself sold for fifty cents.

These masters of mystery, Cigam included, didn't bother to come across the street and learn how Demo's

telephone trick was working. They simply parted and stalked away in their various directions.

Maybe they took it for granted that Demo was naming the cards that people called for. In fact Demo was,

"If them punks would lam," sidemouthed Sideface, "we could start working on that joint across the way."

"It's dark enough now. For me, anyway, providing you stick here to flash copper if one comes along."

"Okay, only let's wait until the deadpan guy fills up on Java. I'd rather see new faces before we move."

The "deadpan guy" was Cranston and he became obliging a few minutes later. Maybe he'd just been waiting

until Cigam's younger customers had finished letting Demo baffle them with his telephone mystery.

Whatever the case as soon as the cluster had gone from around the telephone, Cranston strolled out too and

Half way down the block, he stepped into a darkened doorway and opened the bottom of a special briefcase

that he carried. From between the inverted V of the two partitions, Cranston brought out a tightpacked black

As Cranston put on those garments, he adjusted a brace of automatics that he already packed beneath his

business suit in their welldesigned holsters. Then, a gliding shape of blackness, this transformed personage

What he had was a revolver and one whack of the butt did a complete job with the street door padlock.

Turning around, Louie blocked all sight of that damage and looked over at the lunch room.

Sideface Sam kept working on another sandwich. He saw nothing to worry him and neither did Louie. The

grunt Louie gave meant that if the street had become dark enough for Sideface, it was dark enough for

Close enough to touch Louie with a ten foot pole and have three yards to spare was a figure so black that it

passed as part of the wall against which it stood. With a simple reach of his gloved fist The Shadow could

Only it wasn't The Shadow's policy to frustrate people like the Grift until they neared their ultimate objective.

Crime was coming back and The Shadow recognized it; therefore he needed a few examples to prove

properly that crime did not pay. Tonight was an excellent opportunity for such an object lesson.

To trap Louie actually at Cigam's safe and phone the police to round up Sideface as a preliminary would be

a feather in The Shadow's cap. But he would prefer to divide the feather between a police inspector named

Joe Cardona and a reporter, Clyde Burke, who would give the incident due publicity and thereby discourage

So when Louie opened the street door, The Shadow let the Grift enter unmolested. In fact he gave Louie

considerable leeway. The Shadow was timing his own entry until he saw Sideface begin to look upward at

Cigam's window. However small Sam's chance of glimpsing The Shadow, it wasn't worth the taking while a

That was why Louie the Grift had little trouble reaching Cigam's upstairs door and not much more in

cracking that second barrier. For the door that said CIGAM MAGIC had a glass panel and by cracking a

chunk from the corner, Louie was able to reach through and turn the knob on the inside.

Closing the door behind him, Louie looked around a trifle warily. Street lamps that didn't show the lower

doorway did manage to give the shop a glow and Louie had never seen any more of this shop than the area

The counters weren't so bad. They contained small items like silk handkerchiefs, packs of cards, small

canisters, miniature billiard balls, glasses, oddlooking coins that weren't money, and small nickelplated

What impressed the Grift were the shelves behind the counter. There he saw boxes big enough for rabbits,

portable tables with fancy drapes, big dice that would half fill a hat, fancy trays, bowls, and clusters of

One rack in particular commanded full attention. It formed a sort of wall beside a door leading to a back room

At the left of one tall shelf hung a curious clock dial made entirely of glass and furnished with a long flat

pointer like a single hand. Over at the right, past a pyramid of small square bird cages was an upright metal

rod set in a pedestal. On this rod was a large ball, pierced through the center to allow the passage of the rod.

It was the large clock dial that captured Louie's eye and with good reason, for the pointer suddenly began to

spin as though actuated by some invisible hand. Creeping toward the counter, Louie planted his hands there,

That whirring pointer was making Louie's own wits whirl. He hadn't expected Cigam's shop to go magic on

Outside the shop door, blackness was looming up the stairs from below, its approach a symbol of coming

trouble for Louie the Grift. But Louie was too busy wondering about Cigam's mysteries to be thinking in

It wasn't just the clock dial that was behaving oddly now. The big ball was starting to move up and down on

the rod finishing each drop with a sharp click as though counting off the seconds that the onehand clock

In the hallway The Shadow halted, his cloaked form barely outlined against the thicker blackness of the wall.

The Shadow could hear those clacks from the spirit ball and for the moment was at a loss to define them.

The Shadow wasn't expecting Louie to be watching magic. Right now, the Grift should have been working at

Cigam's safe. Not only were the sounds coming from the wrong direction; they weren't the sort that a

safecracker would make. The Shadow paused to reconcile those noises with the circumstances.

Between the spirit clock and the mystic ball, a larger piece of antique magic towered above the pintsized

bird cages. It was a big grinning mask with horns that made Louie mistake it for a devil though actually it

represented a satyr. The thing was mounted on a single pedestal and it was of more than human size,

First the head rolled its eyes as though looking Louie over and the huddled crook shied away. Then, classing

the eyes as mechanical, Louie reared half across the counter and snarled at the satyr's head. At that moment

the satyr wiggled its horns and Louie, suddenly infuriated, decided to throw something at the mechanical

All that was lying handy on the counter was a pack of cards, but Louie decided it might be enough to stop the

As Louie's arm went back for the throw, the gloved hand of The Shadow was coming through the broken

corner of the door to turn the inside knob, but Louie wasn't looking around behind him. Instead, Louie was

The flying pack splashed all over the big head and the eyes stopped their contortions. The horns were frozen

too, but Louie hadn't put an end to the magic. Instead, he'd actually played stooge to the climax.

From among the flutter of descending cards, four stood out. They were the aces from the pack, standing

balanced in a slightly curving row on top of the weird head, directly between the horns!

The outer door had opened silently, but Louie hadn't turned to see it. The crook's face was as rigid as the

satyr's until, a moment later, Louie's jaw sagged of its own accord as a token of sheer amazement.

At that moment, Louie was half across the counter, balanced on both hands in the exact position that had

marked the finish of his fling. The bulge of the satyr's eyes seemed a copy of Louie's own. To make it perfect,

Though inside the shop, The Shadow hadn't a chance to stop the thing that happened even if he'd expected it.

From the satyr's opening mouth came a tongue of flame accompanied by the sharp report of a gun. The stab

With a shriek the crook reared upward, staggered back and lost his balance, flattening supine on the floor!

Even before Louie landed, The Shadow was clearing the counter at the left, dropping there with a crouch that

turned into a forward drive. He was out of sight behind the sliding doors that lined the rear of the counter and

His drive however was a quest for a closerange meeting for whomever stood behind the satyr, for The

Shadow's route was straight past the display rack where the clock hand was slowly ending its spin, the metal

Through the doorway, The Shadow reached Cigam's back room, a dimly lighted place stacked with filing

cabinets, assorted boxes, desk and shipping bench. There was nothing large enough to hide a human being, so

all indications were that the murderer had gone through the window at the rear, which furnished the back

Reaching the window, The Shadow established that theory when he found that the sash was unclamped. It

came flying up with the whip of his hands and in the same gesture The Shadow was through the window and

out across a ledge from which he made a twirling drop to the ground behind the building.

This was one way to take up a murderer's trail, except that it proved too precipitous for The Shadow to

Even as The Shadow landed, a chunky figure came flinging upon him, swinging something that had the glint

of a revolver. Only The Shadow, even during his rapid drop, had been thinking in just such terms.

The gloved hands that swept upward from the folds of The Shadow's cloak carried the dark bulk of a

gunmetal automatic that stopped the descending revolver in midair. Sparks flashed from the clashing

For as The Shadow wheeled one way, his antagonist the other, the man with the revolver let loose with the

wild sort of shots that The Shadow expected. In return came The Shadow's taunting laugh, as though

commending such wasted fire. With his mirth, The Shadow whirled still further in the dark to gain the

vantage of an alley that he knew led to the front street. Another foolhardy stab from his opponent's gun and

He knew this backyard better than The Shadow and he made the most of it. All that The Shadow heard was

the wild clatter of footsteps making off through another passage to a side street. By the time The Shadow cut

across the yard, found the narrow cleft and probed it with two shots to discourage any return fire, the passage

Windows were clattering all around. Shouts were accompanying the cautious sweep of flashlights. From

It wasn't The Shadow's policy to stay around and take the blame for somebody else's crime. Speeding back to

the alley that he preferred, he continued through it and seemed to evaporate somewhere in its gloom.

When Lamont Cranston, a calm stroller who carried a briefcase, stopped in front of a little lunch room to join

the curious throng that watched the police going up to Cigam's it was only natural that he should glance into

In death, Louie the Grift had lost the services of the sidekick who had been willing to help him out in life.

Like an unknown murderer, Sideface had decided to become scarce, leaving the riddle to the police and

Pete Noland said it over the telephone in the halfsepulchral tone that so fitted Demo's style that it had taken

"I know you are thinking of a card. You have that card in your hand, of course."

The person didn't have the card so Pete told him to get it and concentrate, then write the name of the card

upon a sheet of paper. All this was done without the person stating the card aloud; that part was up to Demo,

"You have concentrated enough," announced Pete in that same impressive tone. "Your card was the five of

There was an amazed gasp from the telephone receiver but Pete was used to all that. Besides, somebody was

knuckling at the window pane, so there wasn't time to waste listening to a customer's reaction to the phone

Pete simply hung up the phone and opened the window. It was Demo of course, since he was the only person

who entered his own apartment by that route. For the first time, Demo seemed unnerved by his crawl along

"Why don't you quit this fool stuff?" queried Pete in the frank style that went with his looks. "This steeplejack

act will throw you, if you don't throw yourself. Taking a drink is bad, if you're intending to go out again "

"Only I'm not going out again." Demo shoved his face up from the chunky shoulders that supported it, His

It was somebody else wanting to know a card so Pete went through the usual routine and named it. Eyes

"I'm fed up, Demo," argued Pete, in his own tone, as he clamped down the receiver. "If we're going to be

"It won't work that way, Pete. I've been selling those instruction sheets under the title of Demo's Own

"Then handle the works yourself." Pete went to the closet to get his hat and coat. "I'm leaving and not by the

Frantically Demo threw his hunched form across the door to block Pete's departure. Demo looked really wild

with his gasping lips, his blinking eyes, and the tangled hair that strewed down across his forehead.

"I'm doing it." Pete's handsome face had clouded, though not in a too unfriendly way. "Sorry, Demo."

Pete almost botched Demo's tone, because his mind wasn't on the telephone mystery. Vague thoughts and

troubled ones were cluttering Pete's mind regarding the inandout act that Demo had been staging every

evening, leaving Pete to double for him in the apartment. So when he finished this last call, Pete wheeled and

"That will cut off those calls for a while. Shed your hat and coat so you can listen. Remember, I said we'd go

Demo wasn't forgetting the phone trick, though, because he made his story rapid and brief, so as not to keep

"Here's the whole story, Pete," declared Demo earnestly. "I asked you to stay up here evenings and fake like

you were me answering calls on the phone trick I've been peddling at two bucks a throw. My sneaking in and

out by the ledge to the roof next door may have struck you as kind of eccentric, but you knew I was that sort

"Well, I'm still eccentric," admitted Demo, "but in a way that may pay off for both of us. Look at this stuff."

Pawing through a desk drawer, Demo brought out some yellowed newspaper clippings, and a few old frayed

As Pete began to study the exhibits, Demo glanced at the stifled telephone and became impatient.

"I'll explain them, Pete," said Demo rapidly. "The clippings are about the treasures belonging to the Sultan of

Malkara that disappeared from his palace during a revolt of the populace, a good many years ago."

"The chief harem beauty disappeared at the same time," he added. "Kwana, her name was."

"And later all the stuff showed up," declared Demo, gesturing to the clippings. "Here, there and everywhere,

with one important exception. None of the sultan's crown jewels ever showed not anywhere."

"I don't think so," argued Demo. "Look, Pete. How would you guess Kwana got out of Malkara?"

"These tell how." Demo brandished the long, oldfashioned playbills. "You've heard of Savanti, the Magician

of Many Lands. Look where he was playing, right at the time Kwana disappeared along with the sultan's

"Right," confirmed Demo, "and here's something more. Look at this billing a year later." He was spreading

the other playbill. "Where did Savanti get Mysteria, the Maid of the Himalaya Mists, exotic creature of the

"You mean where did Savanti get the levitation act," he laughed. "Swiped it, I suppose, like he did with most

"If you want to call it a robbery," returned Demo blandly. "I wouldn't say that Savanti would go in for that,

though. Maybe Kwana had a right to her share of the sultan's wealth. Her deal with Savanti could have been

Chin buried in hand, Pete watched Demo hang the receiver on its hook to resume the answering of card calls.

"He died on his last world tour," corrected Demo, "before he could get back home where he had stored most

of his old apparatus." Demo's eyes narrowed Pete's way. "A lot of Savanti's props have been junked off

"Then you mean the sultan's jewels may be hidden in one of Savanti's old tricks?"

"I couldn't think of anywhere better," returned Demo. "Nobody would steal magic apparatus, and if they did,

The phone was ringing. Demo answered it personally and by his peculiar system of queries told some lady

"There are some smart characters who may have guessed what I have," Demo told Pete. "That's why I don't

want them to know that I'm checking on all old apparatus that may once have belonged to Savanti. The best

way to keep them from knowing is to make them think I'm here in the apartment every evening."

Now the whole business of the telephone tieup was clearing itself in Pete's mind, along with Demo's

procedure of using the window route instead of the apartment house elevator. No wonder Pete had been

"There's only one man who makes a specialty of buying old apparatus," expressed Pete. "That's Wade

"And his million bucks," added Demo. "Winstrom loves to waste dough on junk that nobody else wants or

Another phone call gave Pete time to think over that analysis. Then, after Demo had floored somebody who

"Why not let Winstrom keep buying up old apparatus? Then go around to his place and ask to look it over

"I thought of that," said Demo. "But I finally decided that I wouldn't be soon enough, going through stuff

Remembering Demo's jittery mood at the time of his return through the window, Pete waited for his eccentric

"Cigam dug out a lot of old apparatus," declared Demo, "and sold it all to Winstrom as a lot. I figured it

wouldn't be shipped until Monday so I decided to break into Cigam's and give the stuff a proper preview.

"I don't know, except that there was some shooting, and I met somebody coming out. I don't know who it was

and I haven't an idea what happened in Cigam's shop. I only hope you'll believe me, Pete."

The telephone rang just as Demo's tone became an ardent plea. Deepening his voice to the sepulchral, Demo

went into his customary act as he informed some stranger that the queen of spades was the selected card.

By then, Pete Noland had decided to believe Demo Sharpe where tonight's adventure was concerned. A lot of

After all, Pete hadn't believed that the telephone mystery would work until Demo had demonstrated it and

explained the system. Since then Pete had played a personal part in the seemingly incredible.

Pete Noland was only on mystery's threshold. As yet he had never met The Shadow!

Unacquainted with the secret history of the Great Savanti, Lamont Cranston actually spent a brief portion of

Sunday morning weighing the police theory regarding the death of Louie the Grift.

The man who voiced the theory was Inspector Joe Cardona; and it was avidly received by Clyde Burke, the

reporter whom The Shadow had hoped to provide with a scoop while supplying Cardona with a living

Here in the magic shop, opened specially for the occasion, Cardona was putting the quiz on Cigam and doing

it emphatically. Cardona's theory was that Cigam had been in the shop, plugged the prospective burglar and

gone out by his own back window. Joe kept telling Cigam that the law would be tolerant with a man who had

"Say, Joe," put in the reporter suddenly. "Wasn't Louie the Grift a great pal of Sideface Sam?"

"You might have something if you picked up Sideface," suggested Clyde. "Particularly if you got him to

Of course Cranston had relayed that suggestion through Burke simply to get the law working along the right

track, only now the law was beginning to do it anyway. For certain of Cigam's friends and customers, reached

by telephone, were beginning to arrive. They'd found it rather difficult getting up this early on Sunday

First was Zed Zito, the bluntfaced, rather ruddy man who looked like anything but a magician. There was

the showman's air about Zed, though, his dead pan and cold but precise tone giving an effect of authority to

everything he said. Zed's hands, though blocky, were the sort that could be deft; moreover they were big

enough to hide things. Cranston could tell that when he looked at them, and he particularly noted the

Here was a wizard who looked as clever as he was, maybe more so. Or perhaps Val wasn't too clever, putting

up that sort of front. While he listened to proceedings, this sallow, undersized deceptionist kept doing things

Varno's left was working the coin roll, making a half dollar run somersaulting across his knuckles in a

smooth, uncanny fashion. His right was simply taking his cigarette from his lips between the short, rapid

Only Val Varno couldn't even take a cigarette from his mouth as the normal human would. He invariably

raised his hand palm frontward so that the backs of his fingers pressed his lips when he removed the cigarette.

Then by some peculiar flip he made the cigarette do a complete turnover, so that when he put it back in his

mouth his hand was as it should be, the backs of the fingers away from his face.

Just about the time an onlooker was hoping to catch on to this intricacy, Varno's cigarette would get too short

for further manipulation, so he would stop the coin roll, pocket the half dollar, and bring out a handkerchief

which he laid over his left hand. Poking down some cloth with his right thumb, Varno would drop the

cigarette butt into the pocket thus formed, then suddenly spread the handkerchief, showing the cloth

Replacing the handkerchief, Varno would reach in the air, pluck a fresh cigarette already lighted and start

another smoke, while his other hand came out with the half dollar to resume the coin roll. Only this time, Val

varied the process by ending the roll with a spreading movement of his hand which multiplied the coin to

two, edgeways between his finger tips. Then each hand took a coin and both were starting that tantalizing roll

"Cut that trick stuff!" ordered the inspector. "All right, Varno, what have you got to say?"

"But you weren't here when Zito testified," argued Cardona. "So how do you know what he said?"

"Because I was here yesterday afternoon when Zito was. That's what you're asking him about, isn't it?"

"We all went out together. Cigam, Zito, myself" Varno clinked the coins into his left hand, vanished them

by a simple rub and showed his right hand empty as he gestured it to the door "and our good friend here,

Maybe those polished coins served Varno as mirrors; otherwise Cardona couldn't guess how Val had seen the

suave Mr. Frost enter. What Cardona hadn't observed was that two fancy caskets on Cigam's shelf of antique

From where Varno stood, one nickeled casket reflected the other and the second mirrored the door. Cranston

alone detected Varno's upward glance that gave him that double reflection. But the view wasn't good enough

The other man was Wade Winstrom, the extravagant collector who had purchased Cigam's entire lot of

Frost had evidently caught Varno's statement for the suave man announced in silky tone:

"Whatever Varno and Zito agree upon, inspector, I can confirm. I was present, as Val says. I presume that

It was rather subtle of Frost to put it that way, since he would prove either Zito or Varno a liar if the two

didn't agree. Particularly subtle since Frost's reputation in the magical fraternity was that of a promiser, which

As for Frost's added touch, that of involving a man of substance like Winstrom, this was just another

evidence of the smooth gentlemen's subtlety. Frost was the sort who could have sold magicians palming oil if

"Don't count Mr. Winstrom in this," Cigam protested in defense of his best customer. "He left before the rest

"Calm yourself, Cigam," he suggested. "I'm not hurting your business. Mr. Winstrom merely stopped off at

my factory to look at an old cabinet illusion which I regarded as a collector's item, That shouldn't annoy you,

"Neither do I," commented Winstrom, drily. "They take up too much storage room and you can't show them

"You'll see the Golden Pagoda tonight," promised Frost, in the emphatic tone that meant this was one promise

he intended to keep. "I'm doing it at the U.W.A. show." He smiled at Cardona. "Maybe you ought to buy a

"I'm not thinking of magic shows," grumbled Cardona. "I'm thinking of magic shops and this one especially.

"Except that somebody was fooling with it," returned Cigam. "They had the clock working and the ball. The

Looking toward the shelf, Winstrom saw the satyr's head with the aces roosting between its horns and the

"If anything was damaged," began Winstrom, "I won't buy it. If you had shipped that apparatus earlier "

"I'm shipping it right now," interrupted Cigam, "if the inspector here will let me."

Cardona nodded that he would and turned the same nod into a sign of dismissal for all present. So they filed

out with the exception of Cigam, who stayed because he owned the shop, and Cranston who, as a friend of

As they stood in the back room watching Cigam take the antique apparatus through openings behind the

"If the clock dial and the rising ball were working," declared Cardona, "somebody must have been back here,

"And the same with the big head. And for one special reason. Look here." He stopped Cigam from turning

the satyr's head edgeways to bring it through the space behind the shelf. "The only way the killer could have

plugged Louie the Grift, was by shoving a revolver through the satyr's mouth from the back. What's more,

he'd have to wait until the mouth opened, which is the last thing it does." Joe turned to Cigam.

Cigam nodded soberly, but only Cardona saw him do so. Cranston was looking elsewhere, among spaces

between the back room packing boxes and a cranny where the sides of two filing cabinets didn't quite meet.

That gap was right behind the satyr's head. Something glittered from the floor and Cranston shoved a file

cabinet aside to pick up the object. It proved to be a black wand with nickelplated tips.

"Somebody must have put that wand on a file cabinet," said Cigam, "and it rolled down between. Magicians

have a lot of trouble with wands rolling off their tables. Sometimes they use square wands so they won't roll."

Looking, Cigam saw a little knob on the side of the wand, set in a slit which actuated a plunger. Amazed, he

"An improvement over a magician's pistol," explained Cranston. He pressed the knob and there was the sharp

click of a hammer. "A wave of this wand, you hear a shot and see a spurt of fire. Now suppose "

Pausing, Cranston inserted the wand through the back of the satyr's head so that the wand's open tip extended

out from the mouth of the big false face. Reaching around, Cranston lifted the satyr's jaw so that the wand

"This head is practically an automaton," explained Cranston. "Start its mechanism and it goes through a

As Cranston let the jaw drop to illustrate his point, there was another sharp click from the wand.

"A hairtrigger," commented Cranston. "Rather odd for a firing wand. This one can shoot bullets; it's

practically a pistol composed entirely of barrel. But it doesn't have the weight of a gun, so the recoil would

send it some distance." His hand supporting the wand behind the satyr's head, Cranston gave it a straight, deft

The wand arrowed into the space between the file cabinets. Cardona pounced after it, exclaiming:

Cigam's wits were coming back. Hoarsely he protested that the firing wand wasn't his, that he'd never seen it

until the present moment. In fact there hadn't been a firing wand around Cigam's shop during the dozen years

that he had owned it, not even among the lot of old apparatus that he had excavated. Firing wands were very

So ardent was Cigam's plea that Cardona was inclined to believe him. Joe looked at Cranston hoping the

The late editions of the Sunday morning newspapers carried a small item about the death of Louie the Grift,

but the details were meager. Nevertheless, Demo Sharpe took great pains to show the story to Pete Noland as

Such frank procedure gave Demo the opportunity to interpret the case his own way.

"You see what I mean." insisted Demo. "Somebody must have guessed that I was going to crack into

"Only how would they be expecting you?" Pete inquired. "Everybody knows you're supposed to be up here,

"The killer wasn't necessarily thinking in terms of me," expressed Demo. Then, with an odd stare that he used

in working out mysteries like his telephone stunt, he continued: "It's known, though, that somebody is going

around to all sorts of junk shops, hunting up old magic apparatus. That's what I've been doing evenings."

Things were adding up in Pete's mind. He could picture Demo sliding in and out of obscure stores, keeping

himself well muffled as he looked over anything resembling old apparatus that might have belonged to

"I've been calling up old timers too," added Demo. "Magicians that most everybody has forgotten. I haven't

told them who I was. I've made my voice different just like you've been faking mine. But anyone who is on

Aloud, Pete began to check the names of persons who might prove to be Demo's rival bidder. Naturally he

"There's Val Varno," began Pete, "but he goes in for sleights, so apparatus wouldn't be in his line. Take

Glanville Frost, he manufactures apparatus, but mostly he makes illusions for night clubs or stage acts. Zed

Zito has a lot of smaller equipment, but his stuff isn't strictly magic. Let's see now who else "

"You mean that's enough of a list?" demanded Pete. "If that's the case, it's my turn to ask why."

"Because those fellows fit my case," explained Demo, simply. "I don't bother with apparatus either. I'm a

mentalist, doing mysteries of the mind." He gestured to a stack of typewritten papers on a desk. "Daytimes

I'm working on my new book called 'Mental Marvels' and evenings I'm servicing customers who bought my

telephone miracle. If I'm smart enough to cover my real interest, so is the fellow who is trying to beat me to

Demo's ingenious argument won Pete completely. Pete gave a worried shrug, then reverted to his frank

"I didn't ask for a split on this Savanti proposition," put in Pete. "Why don't you take my share as yours and

"And put three of them in the market?" retorted Demo. "Not a chance. Where they're concerned, my motto is

"Let's keep on playing it my way," Demo insisted. "You stick around and handle the phone trick for me, so I

"I'm only going to buzz old Professor Del Weird over at the Universal Wizards show."

"I'll get in the back way and talk to the Prof in his dressing room. He just came into town and he doesn't know

about my phone mystery. He won't care, either. He doesn't think a trick is any good until it's been tested fifty

"He may have stowed some away in years gone by and some of it could have been Savanti's."

Pete's smooth forehead furrowed. He was worrying over Demo's dilemma more than his friend was.

"Wade Winstrom is throwing a buffet supper," reminded Pete. "Del Weird will be there of course. Why don't

"And try to outbid Winstrom on buying apparatus?" snorted Demo. "No, I'll have to see Del Weird privately

and get him to hold out on any tricks that may have been Savanti's. I can top Winstrom on a few items,

"Besides" Demo shook his head reminiscently "it's hard to break away from Winstrom when he gets in a

chatty mood. The last time I was there, six o'clock was slipping by before I realized it. Lucky I had you

planted over here. What's more, the supper is only for U.W.A. members. You know what that means:

Pete smiled at the quip involving the U.W.A. initials. Of the professional magicians appearing in tonight's

show, only Del Weird belonged to the Universal Wizards Association; the rest, like Varno, Frost and Zito,

had been hired to bolster the bill. So Pete acquiesced to Demo's plan regarding a clandestine interview with

Del Weird, Pete's part being to miss the show, which was no hardship, and continue to play Demo's role of

There were others, however, who considered Winstrom's supper to be a rather important occasion. One such

person was Lamont Cranston, who at present was riding by cab to Winstrom's hotel, accompanied by a girl

named Margo Lane. Quite intrigued by the thought of meeting a group of magicians, Margo suddenly

"But Lamont! If only magicians are invited to this supper, how can you get in there?"

Cranston smiled. As The Shadow he had ways of getting into places that would have mystified even a

"It isn't exactly a magicians' party," Cranston explained. "It's being given for the members of the Universal

"Not all of them." Still smiling, Cranston brought out a card and showed it to Margo. Bearing Cranston's

name, it was a membership card in the Universal Wizards Association. "I joined the U.W.A. this afternoon

"They're the ones who need the five dollars," replied Cranston. "The U.W.A. is having a membership drive.

Wade Winstrom saw me down at Cigam's, thought I must be interested in magic, so he phoned me at the

The cab was stopping at the palatial Hotel Chianti where Winstrom lived and where the Wizards were

holding their show in the grand ball room, a coincidence indicating that Winstrom probably had a large say

Cranston and Margo rode up to Winstrom's penthouse and found a flock of Wizards there. None of them

wore goatees; they were largely a lot of tiredlooking business men mostly in their portly forties. Their wives

were present in abundance and Margo was promptly swallowed by the ladies auxiliary whose chief topic of

conversation was the amount of time their husbands were wasting on that most detestable of hobbies, magic.

In glimpses that she obtained between the shoulders of the broadaxes, Margo was almost inclined to agree.

The wizards were fumblers when it came to doing impromptu tricks, turning their backs to arrange special

packs of cards when they tried to fool each other. Maybe they found it fun, but it didn't look like magic.

Wade Winstrom, though, was different. For all his austere looks, Winstrom was quite genial and enjoyed it

when his fawning guests admired the array of magical apparatus that stocked his spacious living room. Margo

joined the group that followed Winstrom into his library where there were shelves upon shelves of magic

books that appeared to be in the immaculate condition of jobs fresh from the bindery.

Finding Lamont nearby, Margo remarked upon the fine condition of Winstrom's volumes.

"They should be in good shape," was Cranston's comment. "I've heard that Winstrom never unlocks the book

cases, let alone read the books themselves. But you still have a lot to see. Come this way, Margo."

This way led into a windowless room where Winstrom kept his exhibit of play bills. There were a few

hundred of them, all in tall narrow frames and many of the specimens were more than a century old, extolling

the merits of such historical magicians as the Chevalier Pinetti, Professor Anderson, and Signor Blitz.

However, Winstrom dismissed the play bills with a careless wave of his imperious hand and ended the

gesture by introducing a wizened gentleman who looked like the living relic of the conjurors described in the

"Professor Del Weird," boomed Winstrom. "I know you'll be glad to meet him, those of you who haven't

Old Del Weird bobbed a toothless smile from beside a table where he was unpacking a lot of fancy glassware

"The professor does the wine and water act," announced Winstrom. "The trick baffles me every time I see it. I

Absentmindedly, Del Weird was reaching in the various pockets of his oversized frock coat. In plaintive

"I must have left that package in my overcoat. Where would my overcoat be, Mr. Winstrom?"

"I'll ask one of the servants," replied Winstrom. "He'd know. But don't worry yourself, professor. It's two

Quite relieved, Del Weird regained his senile smile. Then, noting a lady present, the professor bowed

profoundly. Plucking an embroidered cloth from his table, Del Weird showed it back and front and from its

folds suddenly produced a glass of red wine which he tendered in Margo's direction.

As the girl gasped at this quick surprise, Del Weird withdrew the glass and holding it in one hand swept the

cloth across it. In the brief time that the glass was covered, its contents changed from wine to water.

Margo was still speechless when Del Weird bowed, raised the glass and drank it as a toast, all without a

"Why why " Margo paused to halt her stammers. "Why, it's the most amazing thing I ever saw!"

"You'll see a lot greater surprises tonight," promised Winstrom. "I think you'll like magic, Miss Lane."

Cranston too was smiling at Margo's reaction, but the rest of the Wizards looked bored. They had seen Del

Nevertheless, Winstrom's prediction stood. People were going to have a real surprise before tonight's show

The Chianti ball room was on the ground floor of the hotel and it had a stage that turned it into an excellent

auditorium. Only no one was in the auditorium at curtain time; instead, people generally were flooding the

large foyer. The same people usually bought tickets to a magic show and they knew that none of the

Besides, the U.W.A. show was being stolen before it even started. To pass the time, somebody had tried

There was a string of half a dozen phone booths in the foyer and people were using all of them, all trying to

get the same number. This bothered Margo so she asked Lamont about it. Looking up from the fancy

"Grab one of those phone booths," instructed Cranston. "Call the same number as the rest of the people,

Anaconda 48601. Better write it down before you forget it, because you may be a while putting a call

"Ask for Demo Sharpe, tell him who you are and that a friend said for you to call him. He'll tell you what

Margo halted, deciding that even as a gag, it would be a good one. She went to a booth, was lucky to get a

quick call through. A voice mysteriously responded and heard what Margo had to say. Then the voice

Margo just stood there, flabbergasted. She didn't even realize that she'd hung up the receiver until the phone

bell began to jangle it. Margo answered, wondering if the amazing Demo was calling back to read some more

of her mind. It was only the switchboard operator saying there was a call for Professor Del Weird.

At that moment the professor came waddling by, carrying his suitcase flat in front of him so as not to damage

the glassware set inside. Margo beckoned him to the phone booth, and finding the call was for him, Del

So there was Margo standing outside the booth with the professor inside. Still very puzzled, Margo looked up

Margo was sure she'd heard right, but Del Weird didn't repeat Demo's name again. Instead, he affirmed that

he'd sold all his old apparatus and that he couldn't be bothered until after the show. Finally he conceded that

With that, Del Weird came from the booth and without even a thank you, took his suitcase from Margo and

"But don't talk about it now," supplied Cranston. "The telephone trick always works and I know it's

wonderful. But right now I'm looking for somebody who ought to be here but isn't."

"And I'm telling you about somebody who ought to be somewhere else, but isn't," persisted Margo. "I mean

"Demo called back," explained Margo, "and he talked to Del Weird. But all the while people were in those

phone booths talking to Demo. Of course maybe they were just getting the busy signal."

Perhaps that was the answer, but Cranston wasn't letting it pass that simply. Instead, he said something that

"Here's a list of the reception committee," said Cranston. "You'd think they'd all be here; they aren't. A chap

"There's another reason Noland ought to be around," continued Cranston. "He reviews these shows for a

magical paper called The Wivern under the name of Paracelsus Junior. He certainly shouldn't be missing this

"A lot. I'm not restricting the list of murder suspects just to persons who were at Cigam's yesterday and who

"Somebody certainly planted that firing wand too neatly. Whoever did wasn't expecting Louie the Grift.

"Very probably. Louie's back was to the light. His face couldn't have been seen through that space behind the

Cranston spoke impassively as though he had learned all this today. He wasn't even suggesting to Margo that

he'd been in Cigam's at the very moment when murder struck. In analyzing this case of murder by magic,

Cranston was not neglecting any magical clues and Demo's telephone trick was looming as one of them.

Checking some time notes that he had made on the margin of his program, Cranston decided on his course.

"I'm going over to Demo's now," he confided to Margo. "I'll have just time enough to get back before Del

Cranston went through the door marked "Stage" carrying his briefcase with him. Remembering something

else she'd wanted to ask, Margo started after. Past the door she saw a group of dressing rooms, off at another

angle a wing of the stage where several performers were arguing because each intended to do the other's

None of them noticed the further door, past the dressing rooms, that Margo saw closing. It was very dark

beyond that door, but as the blackness suddenly cleared, Margo saw the glimmer of alley lights.

Then did Margo Lane realize that she'd witnessed one of The Shadow's strange evaporations. Too late with

her question, she went back and around into the auditorium which by now was filled with people.

As for Lamont Cranston, now become The Shadow, he took a rapid ride in his own cab, the same cab that

had brought him here with Margo, its driver the speediest hackie in New York. The driver's name was

Shrevvy and he clipped about five minutes off The Shadow's estimated time in getting to the Albuquerque

This gave The Shadow extra minutes to gauge the location of Demo's apartment. The Arms was a swank

apartment with doorman, clerk and elevator operators, a gamut that The Shadow didn't care to run as

Cranston. What intrigued The Shadow was the much less pretentious apartment building next door, which

There was a ledge that looked too narrow to be even a catwalk, but The Shadow knew his ledges and could

gauge their proper size from the street. So he glided into the adjoining building, took the automatic elevator

Then, navigating the ledge of the Albuquerque Arms, The Shadow moved like an unseen wraith around the

corner and followed his ample path to the lighted window that represented Demo's apartment.

The telephone mystery was still doing steady business, which proved that plenty of magicians didn't attend

the U.W.A. shows. But it wasn't Demo Sharpe on the receiving end. The man handling the apartment's

One pleasant feature of investigating a magical murder was the ease with which anyone could recognize

whichever magicians might be involved. One wall of Cigam's shop, opposite the longer display shelves, was

completely covered with autographed pictures of the local magic. The Shadow hadn't missed a face in that

prospective rogue's gallery while he had been at Cigam's today. The accompanying names had likewise

If The Shadow had wanted to go into the magic business he could have prepared a memory training system

Though Demo's system of telephone telepathy was just a trick, constant concentration upon it seemed to have

stimulated Pete's extrasensory perceptions. As he finished naming the nine of clubs for someone, Pete

Or perhaps it was a peculiar darkening of the window, which though ever so slight, had caught Pete's tense

attention. Now, Pete saw the blackness unblur and he frowned at the familiar glimmer of the city lights

beyond. Like Margo he had witnessed The Shadow's process of what could be styled evaporation.

Coming over to the window, Pete pulled it open, stared along the blackened ledge. He couldn't see The

Shadow now, the cloaked shape was so close to the wall. In a hoarse, anxious whisper, Pete voiced

The tingling telephone broke into Pete's fear that his friend had plunged below. Mechanically, Pete went back

"Guess I was getting jittery, Demo." Pete gave a halflaugh, "Thought you were outside the window just

now... What's that? Maybe there is something in telepathy? You might be right... Yes, it was funny I'd think

"You're seeing Del Weird? Kind of risky, Demo... Well, maybe you can make him stay mum... Only, I'm

worrying what if anybody else sees you... A good stunt for the book? I get it how to be two places at the

same time... But that's one secret you'd better not give away... Good luck, Demo... Better hang up now.

When, after a couple of more card calls, Pete went over and closed the window, the outside ledge was

actually unoccupied. The Shadow had learned all he needed at Demo's, at least for the present.

His theory established, The Shadow was on his way back to the Hotel Chianti and further along the trail of

Only sometimes trails moved faster than the person who followed them. That was something The Shadow

The bill was opened by a dapper amateur who tore some strips of tissue paper and turned them into a fancy

party hat. Next he fanned whole packs of playing cards in clever style. Finally he did the wellknown trick of

Next on the bill was Val Varno. He did his short act: just the card fans. Val added a few flourishes that the

Another amateur followed with a rapid act in which only three out of a dozen tricks went wrong, Two that

By then people were beginning to look around the audience instead of at the show. They received smiles,

austere ones, from Wade Winstrom, who would have shaken hands, too, if his reach had been long enough.

All the way down from the penthouse and during the half hour that people were around the foyer, Winstrom

The bill spruced up when Zed Zito appeared. He introduced a very attractive blonde whom he called Miss

Libra. She could change her weight under Zito's hypnotic power, so Zito said. While Zed was getting a

committee on the stage, he had Miss Libra do a trick, since this was a magic show.

Margo saw some people sneak out from the audience. They were going to have a smoke in the foyer and try

the telephone to see if Demo could still name cards in his uncanny way. Demo's trick could stand repetition

Deciding to sit through Zito's act, Margo was wellrewarded. The act was really good. When Zito said

"Heavy!" strong men found themselves unable to lift Miss Libra. When he said "Light" she became as a

feather. To prove it really happened, Zito had Miss Libra stand on a scales. Her weight went down to

twentyfive pounds at his command of "Light" and rose to two hundred and fifty when he thundered

For the finish, Zito hitched Miss Libra to a rope which ran up over a big pulley above the stage. Three men

took the other end of the rope and with no effort hauled the girl a dozen feet above the stage. Zito

commanded "Heavy!" and Miss Libra came straight down while the surprised committee men went up on

It was really very good and the audience remained patient even when Glanville Frost, suave and sleek,

appeared and started his act with card fans. Quite smooth, Frost won real applause which faded suddenly

Frost talked the audience down. He said that his version of the rings was the correct Chinese edition, taught to

him by Ching Ling Foo. Even Winstrom seemed to swallow that, though his own play bills upstairs would

have proven that Ching went back to China when Frost was only three years old. But Frost, the clever

showman, held his audience by adding that the rings were a necessary introduction to his finale, the famous

Under his breath Frost might have added "in fifty years;" but if he did, nobody heard him.

Frost was bowing from an armor of tangled rings when the curtain rose disclosing the famous pagoda. It was

a miniature pagoda measuring about four feet every direction and it stood on a little platform so that people

could see beneath it. Shaking himself free of the rings, Frost opened the whole front of the pagoda and

Closing the pagoda, Frost recited something in Chinese; there was a puff of smoke and flame, the pagoda

sprang open, top and all, and a girl in Chinese costume rose to take a bow. It was a really startling illusion

and everybody applauded heavily, particularly when they saw that the girl was Miss Libra and that Frost had

Then Professor Del Weird came on and Margo Lane gave up. If after fifty years of wand wielding, Del Weird

hadn't learned a better opening than the paper hat trick, Margo didn't want to watch him. Besides, those were

the inevitable linking rings hanging over a Tstand behind the table where a pitcher and a row of glasses

Margo wanted more than a smoke, she wanted a drink if the cocktail lounge was still open, and she was so

sick of magic she didn't even care about testing Demo's telephone mystery. So she started out to the foyer

"That so?" queried Margo. "Well, if he turns torn papers into a hat, I'll scream and that will really interrupt

Another committee man decided in Margo's favor. Already she had drawn considerable attention at the back

of the house and among the persons who stared her way was Inspector Joe Cardona. He had an expression

that resembled the Great Stone Face and was obviously annoyed because he had come here at Cranston's

Seeing Cardona brought Margo's mind back to stark reality. When she reached the foyer, she threw a look at

the door marked "Stage" and saw a muffled man entering it. He had rapid striding legs under a coat that was

hunched over his shoulders and his hand was across his mouth holding a cigarette from which he blew a

That was hardly necessary, considering that his hat was tipped down over his eyes, but he could still see well

enough to notice Margo looking his way. Increasing his already rapid pace, the man went through the door,

Margo gathered a very good hunch that this was Demo. She went through the stage door, too, and saw the

muffled man bob out of sight into a dressing room. A girl's voice gave an excited protest and the man came

"I'm sorry," Margo heard him mutter. "I was just looking for Professor Del Weird."

The girl was Miss Libra draped in a hastily arranged towel. Two doors closed as Margo neared them, one

admitting Demo Sharpe to Del Weird's dressing room, the other declaring that Miss Libra wanted no more

Now Margo knew that the man was really Demo. His voice, losing all disguise, had been identical with the

On stage, Del Weird was doing the wine and water. Margo stopped for a view from the wings. It was much

more elaborate than the simple trick the professor had done earlier. He was pouring glasses from the pitcher,

some wine, some water; then pouring them back into the pitcher, which suddenly became all water.

Yet that same pitcher was pouring wine and water again, alternately. Mixed, the various liquids turned to

wine. Yet from a pitcher full of wine, Del Weird poured only water, half a dozen glasses of it!

This was so amazing that Margo stood enthralled, forgetting all about Demo. And now a great, hollow buzz

came from the audience. Professor Del Weird was about to prove that his demonstration had been truly

magical. As Del Weird picked up the linking rings, he pretended to remember the thing he hadn't forgotten.

With a bland smile, he turned, picked up the last glass in the line and raised it to his lips.

Del Weird was going to drink the result of all his transformations to prove that it was truly harmless water.

Margo could hear the words "He drinks it!" repeated by various persons amid the stir of voices.

Knees caving instantly, Professor Del Weird hit the stage so flat and hard that everybody knew he must be

To say merely that pandemonium reigned would not have been doing justice to what pandemonium really

The audience went wild with screams that were drowned by the clatter of the folding chairs used to turn the

ball room into an auditorium. Nobody had to ask if there was a doctor in the house because there were plenty,

all amateur magicians. They flooded the stage as fast as the performers from the wings.

It was Glanville Frost however who reached the spot first and seeing the rush of arrivals, Frost had the

presence of mind to pick up the table beside which Del Weird lay and start to carry it off stage before anyone

Frost was coming directly toward the wing where Margo stood when Zed Zito, arriving from an angle,

"Where are you taking that table?" Zito demanded. "Better put it over there by your pagoda and leave it

To prove his point, Zito practically scooped the table from Frost's hands, since the latter wasn't in any

position to interfere. Momentarily it looked as though Frost intended to use his hands to punch Zito, but the

bluntfaced hypnotist balked him by swinging around, thus blocking him off with the table itself.

For some reason this registered oddly with Margo and she looked around as though asking the advice of other

witnesses. There was only one and that was Val Varno, who had sauntered from a dressing room and was

watching proceedings with a casual eye while practicing his coin roll with his left hand.

It was then that the door of Del Weird's dressing room opened, just a chink it was true, but enough to catch

"Better find out who's calling on Del Weird. There's somebody in his dressing room!"

Zito heard Varno's words too. In fact he couldn't have heard better if Val had timed it, for Zito was just

turning from the wing where he had placed the professor's table beside the golden pagoda. As if neither

wanted to be the last, Frost and Zito came lunging from the stage while Varno stepped aside to let them pass.

Neither got far, for by now a stocky man was arriving from the foyer door. This was Inspector Cardona,

taking the shortest way back stage and Joe didn't intend to let anyone get off these premises. Impartially

judged, Frost and Zito gave the impression that one was trying to get away while the other stopped him;

Behind Cardona came others, among them Wade Winstrom who motioned people back, then rushed ahead to

help Cardona. Smiling blandly at the commotion he created, Val Varno stepped back to a niche in the wall

and began slowly placing hand over hand so that his animated coin could continue a perpetual waltz from one

A horror was gripping Margo that the man in Del Weird's dressing room might not be Demo Sharpe!

If one person could fake Demo's voice, so could another. Lamont was due back by this time and perhaps he

was trying to beat Demo at his own game, whatever that was. It could be that the mysterious caller was

And Margo wasn't taking any chances, not with murder again infringing upon magic!

While Varno was watching Cardona tangle with Frost and Zito, Margo took advantage of the moment to rush

for Del Weird's dressing room. If Winstrom saw her, she wouldn't care; it might be all the better, since he'd

If Margo had given a thought to the alley door, she could have forgotten her needless trip right then. That exit

was opening, with blackness its impelling force. The very blackness that meant The Shadow, if Margo had

The girl who looked was Miss Libra, coming from her own dressing room in the tangles of a kimono. She

saw blackness mold itself into a cloaked shape that was vaguely human and this time her screech carried

more of horror than surprise. An instant later, the cloaked figure was gone, the exit slamming automatically.

And people, a flock of them, were coming in Margo's direction, thinking that Miss Libra's frantic gesture was

Already in the old Professor's room, Margo was finding that she'd taken a big chance after all.

The man who had ducked back was half way through the window. He wasn't Lamont, his form was too

hunchy. Besides, it wasn't Cranston's voice that came hoarsely, savagely though withal forced in tone.

Whether it was Demo, Margo couldn't tell for the dressing room was dark except where the light from the

corridor hit it. Not dark enough though to hide the big gun that the intruder brandished in his hand, an

oldfashioned, oneshot pistol that belonged to Professor Del Weird and had the look of a blunderbuss.

Caught half off balance Margo couldn't turn about, so there she was, wondering if the antique gun could be

loaded and hoping that it wasn't. That kind of cannon could blow the dressing room apart at this close range if

the savage man let go with it. Shouts were almost at the door and even if Margo tried to stand back, she'd be

It ended when the man at the window went backward, outward with a snarl waving the gun as he went. It was

Now Margo was sure that the man must be Demo since The Shadow, popping into the picture, had eliminated

her silly theory about Lamont. Demo was slashing at something using the ancient pistol as a bludgeon. A

chunk of gloved blackness stopped Demo's arm in midair and the pistol left his hand, scaling in through the

window and landing almost at Margo's feet. Margo jumped away, but fortunately the gun didn't strike on its

Cardona and three or four other men came piling into the dressing room as the pistol landed and saw the open

window to the courtyard where The Shadow had intercepted Demo. Shouting something about the law and all

it stood for, Cardona rushed to the window and squeezed through. One man followed him; the others, being

That struck Margo as a good idea. On the way, however, she intended to look for Zito and Frost, who had

somehow been left behind in the rush. But before Margo could even glance along the passage, every light

There was another deluge of excitement and somewhere from its distance, Margo had the faint impression of

the tinkle of breaking glass. Then out of the hubbub she heard Winstrom's strong voice urging everybody to

Probably most of the people couldn't guess where the nearest exit was, but Margo wasn't bothered by that

complication. Her nearest exit was right at hand, the alley door, and she reached it at something faster than a

walk. Closing the door behind her, Margo cut off most of the confusion; then listened to sounds from the

Sounds came first; then the sweep of flashlights. Evidently Cardona and his coterie weren't faring well in

their hunt for an unknown intruder who happened to be Demo. Odd too that they didn't find him, for by now

The Shadow certainly should have overpowered the man who was leading a peculiar double life.

Then the thought struck home to Margo that perhaps The Shadow didn't want to capture Demo. This was

supported by the sounds that Margo heard of someone stealing out through the alley to the street. The

Peering boldly around the corner Margo watched the play of flashlights in the courtyard. One gleam suddenly

moved upward, climbed the wall and swept along a third floor cornice that topped a low extension wall.

Below the cornice was an upright oblong, the black outline of a window against the white wall.

As the flashlight focused there, the outline spread like an increasing blot which curiously continued upward

like grappling hooks seeking a hold. That blot was The Shadow, reaching to grasp the overhanging cornice

Margo would have cried out if she could. Only to call a warning might attract the attention of eyes that had

not yet seen the weave of that shape below the cornice. So far no one in the courtyard seemed to have noticed

Except that there were other eyes that no one took into accounting, not even The Shadow.

From that window of Del Weird's blacked out dressing room, a big gun throated a powerful message. The

shot could only have come from Del Weird's oversized pistol for it sounded like a cannon and its flame

That message was meant for The Shadow, and its potency was proved by the result. Blackness was suddenly

banished by a topple of something white; then, cleaving the blurred gloom below it, a chunk of cornice came

The window was a stern oblong once again. All traces of the spreading blot were gone!

Inspector Cardona was after the answers to certain questions and wasn't getting them. Maybe it was because

the people he was quizzing knew too little; perhaps it was because they knew too much.

At least it was a new experience for Cardona, dealing with a batch of magicians. Every man in the group

seemed to be a past master at the art of equivoque, turning questions to suit their own purposes.

Two murders by magic in as many days convinced Cardona that the cases were connected; therefore he had

narrowed down his quest to persons concerned in both. Cardona was conducting his quiz in Winstrom's

There were a few others, including Margo Lane, who had been invited too. One of these was Miss Libra, who

in private life answered to the name of Claire Meriden. However Cardona was bearing down upon the men

who might have had some individual reasons for murdering Professor Del Weird, only the problem was to

Like Winstrom himself, the three performers from tonight's show all expressed the greatest admiration for

Del Weird, as they had known him in life and had the greatest regret for his unfortunate death.

"Del Weird was poisoned," announced Cardona, bluntly, as though everybody didn't know it. "What I'm after

is who did it. Who fixed that wine and water trick with the kind of chemicals that would kill him?"

Eyes running along a row, Cardona took in Zed Zito and Glanville Frost, seated stiffly a short way apart. He

looked at Wade Winstrom standing by the fireplace and studied Claire Meriden seated near, but Cardona

The inspector's gaze settled stolidly on Val Varno who was almost in a corner by himself. Val had put away

his coins and was practicing a triple onehand cut with a pack of cards. Cardona didn't like the halfsmirk

"You really want to know? All right, I'll tell you." Varno drew himself up in his chair, squared the pack with

an emphatic clamp of his hand, and with all the manner of a man prepared to make a full confession,

"That's enough, smart guy," retorted Cardona. "If you're trying to tell me it was suicide "

"Only I'm not," interrupted Varno. "The old prof just got absentminded, that's all. Probably brought along a

lot of oldstyle chemicals forgetting he was going to do the new improved drinkable wine and water."

"Except that somebody could have switched in the poison stuff," reminded Cardona. "Or could they?"

He was leaving the question to Varno as an authority rather than a suspect, but Val was too smart to be taken

"I wouldn't know," was Varno's reply. "Wine and water isn't in my line. I stick to sleights" he began

manipulating the cards as if to prove it "except for a few spook effects like the spirit slates. Better ask

Cardona turned to Winstrom as the final authority but the big man shook his head.

"I am a collector," affirmed Winstrom. "Among my apparatus I have some involving liquids. For instance"

he turned to a large oldfashioned conjuring table that fairly teemed with antique apparatus "here are two

cylinders, two glasses and a decanter that belong to the 'Wonderful Separation of Liquids' in its improved

"You mix wine and water in the decanter" Winstrom gestured as though performing the trick and put the

cylinders over the glasses. "You run ribbons ah, here they are to each cylinder, white for water, red for

wine. At command the liquid leaves the decanter; the wine arrives in one glass, the water in the other."

"Now we're getting somewhere," decided Cardona. "This is like Del Weird's wine and water trick."

"Nothing like it." Winstrom shook his head. "It works on an entirely different principle."

Speculatively Cardona's gaze roved the rest of Winstrom's large array of antique magic. Joe finally settled on

a nickelplated globe mounted upon a fluted pedestal. The globe had a dividing band around the center and it

"What kind of a trick is that?" Cardona asked, "Anything to do with wine and water?"

Stepping over, Winstrom lifted the top half of the globe and revealed a fairsized cannon ball which he lifted,

tossed in air, and replaced in the globe. Putting the top half on again, Winstrom twisted it, lifted it again and

"I had one of those in a trick box when I was a kid," said Joe, "only mine was a pocket model made of wood.

They still sell them for two bits in the Broadway trick stores. Watch me bring back the cannon ball."

Cardona tried and did pretty well. When he put the top half of the globe in place, twisted it and lifted it, the

cannon ball came back, but it was somewhat awry. It was made in two hollow hemispheres that fitted the

respective halves of the globe, but Cardona was too hasty and failed to drop the top section of the cannon ball

"Anyway, that's the idea," apologized Joe. Then, getting back to the slight subject of murder, "But how about

"My books explain numerous methods," stated Winstrom, waving in the direction of his library, "but I have

never bothered with the trick because it is too messy. In fact I seldom do tricks at all. Not even these."

Winstrom's weary gesture to his general array of apparatus was selfexpressive. Owning so much of it,

Winstrom would hardly know where to begin and besides, the tricks themselves were mostly out of date.

"You make magic apparatus they tell me," asserted Cardona. "That wouldn't include a wine and water outfit,

"It would," returned Frost, coolly, "and it does. As many as five hundred customers have bought my

instructions which include facts about chemicals, the poison kind that killed Del Weird. That gives you a lot

His smile as sleek as his smooth, glossy hair, Frost seemed to be mocking Cardona openly. Rather than show

"Do I look like a sucker?" he demanded. Then, bluntly: "But it isn't a question of who knows all about the

wine and water. It's who fixed Del Weird's setup down there in the dressing room."

Cardona decided to question a new and possibly impartial witness on that point. He turned to Claire Meriden.

"If you mean before his act," the blonde replied, "I wouldn't know. We were all back stage" she was

looking from Zito to Frost; then remembering she'd been in both their acts, she switched her gaze to Varno

who was too busy with his cards to notice "so any of us might have dropped in to talk with the professor.

"I suppose so," nodded Claire. "I really didn't see his face. He blundered into my dressing room first but I was

"I'd like to know who that chap was," grumbled Cardona, "except that he got to Del Weird's dressing room

"I wouldn't say that exactly," put in Winstrom, drily. "From later reports, the fellow was pretty handy with

"It was somebody else who used the gun," corrected Cardona, throwing a significant look about the room.

"The man we were after went out through the window. Later somebody threw the light switch and blacked

out everything. If you want my opinion it was the man who threw the switch who did the shooting later."

Cold silence followed and Margo particularly felt its chill. Cardona was right; a trip from the back stage light

switch to the dressing room would have been simple and the gun was lying where anyone would have

stumbled over it. But Margo was thinking not in terms of the marksman but the target.

Half a ton of cornice cracked all over a smashed stone courtyard was a rather harrowing recollection, except

that no human fragments had been found amid the ruin. That at least gave Margo hope that The Shadow had

maneuvered one of his remarkable escapes from an almost certain death. Thinking in just such terms, Margo

looked up to see a newcomer who was entering Winstrom's living room. She gave a glad cry:

Casual as ever, Cranston curbed Margo's overenthusiasm with a slight but significant gesture. Then, in calm

"When murder strikes twice," Joe asserted, "it's bad enough. But when the same three people are there both

times, it gets worse. However I'm holding nobody. I'll know where to reach them when it's necessary."

Including Zito, Frost and Varno with his roundup gaze, Cardona gave a gesture of dismissal. As the three

"Take them," growled Cardona. "There's nothing on the stage that counts, considering that somebody busted

Del Weird's pitcher and glasses as soon as the light went out. Only it didn't help because there was enough

Either Cardona's glare was impartial or it was meant for all three of the departing men. Varno, the last to

"I carry my baggage with me," boasted Varno, fanning the pack as he went through the door. "Fiftytwo

pieces in all. No, wait! Fiftythree, but I don't need the extra piece. You can have the truck pick it up too."

As he turned the corner, Val Varno deftly plucked the joker from the remaining fiftytwo cards. Just when

Val was out of sight the card came skimming around the corner and whizzed past Cardona's chin to lodge

Cardona started toward the door only to stop as Claire Meriden blocked his path by bowing out. Turning to

Winstrom, Cardona indignantly exhibited the joker. Winstrom took the card and nodded.

"Wonderful how that chap Varno does it," was Winstrom's comment. He gave the joker a clumsy toss and

instead of skimming, the card merely fluttered to the floor. "I wish I could be clever like that!"

What Cardona replied failed to reach Margo's ears for she was drawing Cranston into the room where

Winstrom kept the playbills. Cranston motioned that he didn't want a report on what had happened in his

absence; he'd hear it all from Cardona later. But Margo had something in her mind that she simply had to get

"Out in the courtyard!" Margo exclaimed. "Someone was climbing past a window and reaching for a cornice

"And the cornice came down," added Cranston. "Only there wasn't anybody with it."

"It might have been that he found the cornice was already loose," suggested Cranston. "In that case he'd have

swung down into the window instead of continuing up to the roof. Cornices don't make good parachutes, you

So that was it! The cornice had already begun its drop before the shot was fired. Its bulk had proven a falling

Leaving Margo to speculate on whether luck or rapid judgment had served The Shadow more, Lamont

Cranston strolled out to the living room to hear Inspector Cardona summarize this night of crime.

Nearly six o'clock again, the hour when Demo Sharpe went on duty with his telephone trick or at least

Only tonight, the night following the murder of Professor Del Weird, Demo was really planning to take over.

He was worried though, as he looked up from the undersized portable typewriter where he was working at his

"Take it easy, Demo," urged Pete. "If I believe your story, so will other people. Only you won't have to tell it,

"It isn't even a story," he argued. "I didn't get a chance to even see Del Weird. I was away from the place

"The girl did. The one they called Miss Libra, who Frost borrowed for the pagoda production. She might

"I want to know what's going on," insisted Demo. "Cigam is in the clear and he probably has heard a lot. If I

Either Demo didn't remember or he didn't care. Other things were really more important.

"Cigam sent those old tricks to Winstrom yesterday," Demo declared, "and it's a cinch that Del Weird's

shipment came in today. When I phoned Del Weird before the show he said he'd crated the stuff and

expressed it to the Hotel Chianti. If I'd had a chance to see him, he might have agreed to let me have first look

"Instead the first look will be Winstrom's," declared Pete, "if he even bothers to go through the stuff. He must

"I wouldn't be too sure." Demo shook his head, "Winstrom has a lot of servants around and any time they're

idle, he has them arrange his magic apparatus. Let's hope they don't fool much with the stuff, unless what we

"Yes. There's no way of accounting for all of it. Something else might bob up somewhere and be the very

piece that had those Malkara jewels in it, only the one man who might know is dead."

Nodding, Demo amplified his reply by producing an old frayed playbill. It was of a later date than the

Malkara sample, but it advertised the Great Savanti. It was an American playbill announcing Savanti's tour

Pete was particularly interested in the reference to the pagoda because it was the illusion that Frost had

"If Frost had found those gems," declared Demo, "he wouldn't be bothering with making magical apparatus.

"I have it!" he exclaimed. "Frost stays open late. Get over to his workshop, Pete, and ask about the pagoda."

"Why not?" inquired Demo. "Have it shipped over here. Say you're getting up a big act, that's why you

"Better be back by seven though," said Demo. "I might want an hour for myself. The usual business. By the

Stopping in the little cafe off the lobby of the Albuquerque Arms, Pete relayed Demo's order. Nodding to

clerk and doorman he went outside and was lucky enough to get a cab immediately. What Pete didn't see in

the dusk was the cloaked figure close to the wall that signaled the cabby to pick up this passenger and then

moved toward the cab to hear the address that the driver repeated a trifle loudly.

The Shadow was picking up Pete's trail on the chance that it would serve as a temporary substitute for

Reaching Frost's basement workshop in about twenty minutes, Pete found the place lighted. Inside was Zito,

looking over a new guillotine illusion that Frost had just built. Nodding to Pete, Zito gestured to the guillotine

which stood waist high. It contained a sort of stock where a girl could insert her head and hands, while above

"A nice chopper," commented Zito. "More gruesome than most. This one slices through the girl's arms as

"Not this one," put in Frost, a trifle annoyed at Pete's criticism of his product. "It's fool proof."

"That's what Del Weird said about his wine and water," chimed a voice from a corner. "Maybe he was just a

The speaker was Val Varno. Why he was here, except to check on two suspects named Glanville Frost and

Zed Zito, Pete couldn't guess, unless Val had begun to think in terms of an alibi, like Demo.

Or maybe it was because Val was practicing new manipulations with rhinestonestudded thimbles and

wanted to get the opinion of such connoisseurs as Frost and Zito. He was a smoothie, Val Varno, in a way

much more convincing than Frost's, if being smooth could be styled a convincing matter.

"That's right," replied Zito. "Seems out of my line, but it isn't. I'm going to present it as a feat of hypnotism,

"No, no. This will just be an added feature. Useful too in case I'm held over and have to do the usual hyp

"Didn't catch it," replied Pete. "In fact I've never seen it. By the way, who's Claire?"

"Claire Meriden. She works as Miss Libra. So you missed the Golden Pagoda, too. Claire doubled in that

"I've heard it was good," said Pete. He turned to Frost. "Want to sell the pagoda illusion, Glanville?"

"And until I've tried it," added Pete. "How about shipping it over to Demo's? I'm staying there, working up

"The truck is due at the hotel shortly," said Frost. "It would be just as easy to drop the pagoda at the

"Provided it isn't off the route to the Club Marimba," put in Zito. "My stuff is going there. And what about

"Take the guillotine in a cab," suggested Frost. "It's not too big and you won't have to wait around."

Accepting the suggestion, Zito hoisted the portable guillotine and started out with it. He expected Varno to

open the door for him but Val was no longer around. Pete made a mental note of that, calculating that Val

must have left within the last few minutes. The ways and means of Val Varno, seemed devious and doubtful

Completing the call to the hotel, Frost made the arrangements for the shipment of the pagoda. Pete thanked

him and left, taking a cab back to Demo's apartment. Though he'd met three ClassA suspects, Pete couldn't

say that he had learned a thing. However, one item of Savanti's old apparatus would reach Demo, namely the

It was probably the worst bet of all Savanti's equipment from the standpoint of a jewel cache, but Pete was

Instead of Demo, Pete found the telephone ringing and answered it to handle one of the telephone trick

customers. There was a note under the telephone, reminding Pete that he should have been back by seven.

It was now eight minutes after, so Pete calculated that Demo had been gone about five minutes. Whatever his

new mission, it must be important or Demo wouldn't have abandoned the telephone. Despite himself, Pete

began to wonder about Demo. Maybe the sangfroid shown by the various suspects in magic's double murder

had forced Pete to another choice. It took him a little while to shake off his doubts.

The Shadow, too, was wondering about Demo Sharpe. He'd figured that Demo wouldn't leave while Pete was

absent, hence he hadn't watched the Albuquerque Arms. Now that Pete was back, The Shadow returned to the

front street, was expecting to spot a figure at a certain window and see it start a sneaky trip along the high

Only Demo didn't appear; not for five minutes, ten, nor even fifteen. By then The Shadow, in his turn, was

There was a whispered laugh in the lower darkness as a cloaked figure glided to a waiting cab, but the tone

The Shadow hadn't missed much at Frost's. He'd been there in the darkness of the steps leading down into the

basement workshop, during the period of Pete's visit. With the door ajar he'd heard enough of what was said.

Blended with darkness, The Shadow had stepped aside to let Varno pass when the slinky sleight man had

made his surreptitious departure. He'd also seen Zito go the opposite direction, as he had that night at

With Frost closing the shop when Pete left, all three of the promising candidates for double murderer now

were at large. That was a definite reason why The Shadow should pick up Demo's trail as soon as possible.

Lacking a present trace of Demo, the only compromise was a trip to the Hotel Chianti.

Nearing the hotel, The Shadow saw a truck with the name UNICORN STORAGE marked conspicuously on

its side with a picture of the fabled beast for which the name stood. Some men on the sidewalk were gesturing

to the truck driver and it wasn't good policy for Shrevvy's cab to help block traffic. So The Shadow ordered

When The Shadow came back around the corner, the truck had moved. It was nearer the corner and the

truckers were just loading on Frost's pagoda and Zito's scales, which they must have found ready for them.

Seeing an open doorway, The Shadow glided into it and promptly found another thing that suited him.

This was an empty service elevator. So The Shadow took it and rode straight to Winstrom's penthouse. There

was just a chance that Demo might have gone there, for having evidenced a sudden interest in oldtime

Like wispy black smoke, The Shadow glided through a service door and along a hallway that led him into the

big living room. Hearing voices, he could tell that Winstrom was in the dining room, having dinner with

some guests. Hence living room, library and poster room were all empty. The Shadow made the rounds.

Among the playbills framed on the wall of the living room were some pertaining to Savanti. The Shadow

noticed them because of their reference to the Pagoda Illusion and among them was one that closely

resembled the bill Demo had shown to Pete. In scanning it, The Shadow noticed the names of the assistants in

One name was significant. It was D. Elward. What the initial "D" stood for didn't matter; The Shadow was

more interested in the entire name. It didn't take much imagination to transfer D. Elward into Del Weird. This

The first was that magicians' assistants quite often became performers themselves; the second that a stage

name was often adapted from an actual one. The Shadow was quite sure that some research into Del Weird's

early history would prove that he had gained his training under the Great Savanti.

That produced thoughts of Del Weird's apparatus. Going back to a store room off the rear hall, The Shadow

found it bulging with crates including some stacked empties. These were stenciled with the name Del Weird

and they looked as though they had originally held the pile of smaller boxes which were in another corner.

The boxes were heavy, when The Shadow tested them, but none had been opened. How soon Winstrom

would be getting around to them would depend upon how much time he could spare from his serious business

Here would have been The Shadow's opportunity to go through Del Weird's shipment, though he could more

easily have examined the apparatus from Cigam's which was packed loosely in half open boxes in this same

store room. But what meant opportunity to Demo Sharpe was of little importance where The Shadow was

This was just a lot more of obsolete magical equipment which had reached its eventual level, Winstrom's

collection of forgotten mysteries. Since Winstrom had bought it in bulk and simply stored it, there was no

Except that murder by magic was still to be considered; double murder that certainly must have some motive

greater than mere jealousy over who invented the paper hat trick or took priority in performing the linked

rings. Still seeking Demo's relationship to that odd triangle of Varno, Frost and Zito, The Shadow felt that

A logical assumption considering that Cigam's apparatus, part of the setting of a murder scene, had been

transferred here; and that Del Weird's apparatus, also on hand, belonged to a murder victim!

So The Shadow stooped to sort through some of the loose gadgets and immediately things happened. A tiny

spirit bell began to chime when The Shadow lifted it; the bottom fell from an ornamental box delivering half

Something metallic whammed as a deluge of silk handkerchiefs shot in fountain style and cascaded all over

The Shadow's hat and shoulders. Apparently Cigam believed in keeping hairtrigger gimmicks welloiled,

but The Shadow didn't stay to investigate further. Instead, he swooped for the halfopen door, pulled it wide,

then went back with it into darkness as one of Winstrom's servants arrived to seek the cause of all the clatter.

The servant was of squatty build and he intended to find the cord of an overhanging light, so being short he

was stretching as he pawed the air. Deftly The Shadow's foot eased something the servant's way; hearing a

rolling sound on the floor, the fellow turned and took a few short steps. They were enough.

The Shadow's gift consisted of a few odd billiard balls and the stocky man skidded when he stepped on them.

Then his feet were sliding on others and he hit the floor in floundering style as The Shadow whisked past him

Like the rising crescendo of an orchestra came the increasing crashes from the store room. The floored

servant had rolled against a stack of badly balanced boxes and overturned them, bringing a further clatter of

glassware, tinware, and general hardware that belonged to Cigam's loosely packed shipment.

Another servant arrived from the dining room and behind him came Winstrom, calling loudly to learn what

the trouble was about. They received an answer from the store room and when they reached there and turned

on the light, they found the first servant crawling from a mass of nickelplated debris.

It annoyed Winstrom to find some special glassware broken, for Cigam's shipment included items that would

be difficult to duplicate. But Winstrom was even more incensed to find that all this had happened over

nothing; that the servant had only thought he heard a prowler in the store room. It would seem that some

Black against the elevator door, The Shadow was easing its sections open and stepping into the darkness

"I'm sorry, Mr. Winstrom," the stocky man said. "Only I was sort of certain somebody was in here. You see

when Frederick found the service elevator up on this floor and nobody in it, he said I'd better look around

The Shadow caught the warning in those words just a trifle too late. Already through the elevator door and

easing it shut behind him, he realized that there wasn't any car. His feet meeting the vacancy of the shaft, The

Shadow performed a flip in midair grabbing for whatever ledge might be within the door.

There was no ledge. The Shadow's only salvation was his cloak, which had caught in the closing door.

Ordinarily he could have pulled it free; now he was hoping desperately that it would stay jammed, which it

If Wade Winstrom had turned a moment sooner, he might have seen the final closing of the elevator door. As

it was, all Winstrom could now have seen was something he didn't notice, a small chunk of black cloth,

Nevertheless, the mention of the elevator interested Winstrom. His broad forehead grooved with puzzled

lines, he approached with heavy stride. It was only a dozen paces to the elevator and as Winstrom completed

The elevator door slithered open and out stepped Frederick, a dryfaced servant of the same stocky build that

With Frederick was one of the hotel workers, a man named Kirk, who frequently ran the service car. Kirk

"I wouldn't know," admitted Kirk. "Last time we used the car was to bring those crates up here, Mr.

"I took the car down and found Kirk," reported Frederick. "There wasn't anybody else around, Mr.

"Whoever brought the car up could have gone down the other way," decided Winstrom, slowly. "We'll ask

the regular elevator operators if they've seen any strangers. You can go, Kirk."

Kirk went down in the service car; Frederick and the other servants returned to their respective tasks. That

left only Winstrom, standing at the closed door of the elevator. When Winstrom looked at the floor, he saw

Picking up this memento, Winstrom studied it and tugged it between his heavy hands. Then, rolling it

between his fists, he drew it away, made an absentminded wave and spread his hand. The black cloth had

vanished, but it reappeared a moment later when Winstrom clutched the air and literally plucked it into sight.

In his offmoments, Winstrom was a magician of sorts though he preferred not to display his comparatively

Pocketing the piece of cloth, Winstrom went to the living room and hunted up a flashlight. It needed a new

battery so he spent some time in finding one. Again, Winstrom was dropping behind schedule.

Down on the ground floor, Kirk had left the service elevator. Now something was stirring atop the empty car,

a shape of living blackness. It rose, reached for a door above and found it. Hands that fumbled at first finally

Laboriously The Shadow worked himself through and elbowed the doors shut behind him. He rested there,

his cloak oily and bedraggled, his whispered laugh a bit groggy as it emerged from beneath the tilted brim of

The Shadow was the jolt that Kirk had attributed to some fault of the elevator mechanism.

Frederick's return had been timely for The Shadow. Kirk had been bringing the servant up in the service car

all the while The Shadow's cloak had been tearing itself away in a fashion that would have also torn apart a

The cloak had given just before the elevator arrived. Even a short fall could have proven fatal to The Shadow

for the upward speed of the elevator would have added to the impact. But Kirk was braking the car as it

scooped The Shadow a moment after his dangle was converted to an actual fall. Elevators frequently jolted

Through the cracks of the second floor door, The Shadow saw the broad beam of a strong flashlight glare

downward. It stayed there fully half a minute, ample time for anyone above to study the whole top of the

The expassenger, The Shadow, rose to his feet and found a stairway leading down to the ground floor.

Becoming steadier as he progressed, The Shadow reached the grand ball room. Going back stage, he paused.

By the dim light from a fire exit, The Shadow saw some baggage that the truckers had left.

Among other things they'd forgotten Zito's ropes and pulleys. Also the apparatus of other performers was still

The Shadow moved toward the thick darkness of the alley exit as he heard the sound of footsteps with

accompanying voices, coming from the foyer. Into sight came Zed Zito with a pair of men in the uniform of

"I knew Frost would bungle it!" exclaimed Zito. "Look, they've left my pulleys! They should have taken them

"Better ask the truckers," he said. "It was their job, not ours. Maybe they're still out back."

The Shadow decided to go out back first. He was through the door and had closed it before Zito even started

Outside, a truck was just pulling away from the alley. His time sense considerably jarred, The Shadow did not

regard it as irregular. All he wanted was Shrevvy's cab and he found it with a probing flashlight as soon as he

That flashlight had a colored lens that could deliver red or green flashes as occasion called. This occasion

called for green, and Shrevvy spied the blinks from the corner where he was parked. Whipping up, the cab

gathered The Shadow automatically, though Shrevvy was a bit surprised at the slight delay The Shadow

This time the cab came almost to a stop. There was a lapse, too, before Shrevvy heard the command :

Shrevvy could have argued the point, but didn't, because he presumed The Shadow knew what he was about.

Nevertheless, as the trail veered off in a totally wrong direction, Shrevvy pressed closer to the truck hoping

A corner light etched the side of the truck as it swung the corner. It wasn't the Unicorn truck. Its size was

As Shrevvy expected, The Shadow promptly pulled him off the trail. Then Shrevvy was explaining through

"The Unicorn job pulled out a while ago, boss. This one must have come along to pick up another load for

somebody else. Or maybe it was delivering a shipment at the hotel. I didn't see "

"Go to the Albuquerque Arms." Curious that The Shadow should be saying just that and saying it just then.

For at practically that same moment, Inspector Joe Cardona was listening to an anonymous voice across his

Long practice had taught Cardona how to handle calls of this type. Indifferently he queried.

"Apartment 12J," said the voice, in a forced monotone that gave no clue as to its owner. "The apartment

"All right, Mr. Bones," said Joe, treating the call as a gag, "and why should I go to Apartment 12J at the

There was a pause during which Cardona expected to hear a receiver click. Instead, the voice spoke again, in

that same prosaic monotone, but its words were fraught with something akin to menace.

For a place where a murderer was supposed to be, the Albuquerque Arms was exceedingly quiet, but perhaps

There was nothing sinister however about the truck that pulled up at the side entrance. It bore the name

"Unicorn Storage" and it had the type of load that the people at the Arms recognized, for they had seen things

Usually though, Demo Sharpe and his friend Pete Noland brought home smaller apparatus than the gilded

pagoda which required a truck to haul it. The pagoda also looked antique when compared with other magical

The truckers had to weigh the pagoda in order to fix the charges. They'd been told to do this, one said, by Mr.

Weighing the pagoda was simple because in the truck was a pair of sizable scales, a flat type on rollers. The

truckers planted it on the sidewalk, laid a board up to it and pushed the pagoda up the runway. The scales

The clerk used the house phone to call Apartment 12J. The voice that answered was Pete's perfect imitation

"Mr. Sharpe says send it up. He'll have Mr. Noland pay the charges. The pagoda belongs to Mr. Noland."

The door man helped the truckers roll the pagoda into the service elevator and took them up, since the regular

operator was busy. On the way, the truck man speculated on their gilded shipment.

"It's bulky," said the other. "That makes it seem heavier than it is. Funny how things fool you when they're

"This thing cracks apart, though," said the first man, pointing to a joint between the pagoda and its platform.

"Not for us," he claimed. "They'd expect us to take it apart and put it together. That's more work than hefting

At the twelfth floor the Unicorn men rolled the platform and pagoda to 12J where the door man knocked.

There was a delay because Demo's voice was coming through the transom. He was talking to somebody over

the telephone, telling them they'd taken the three of diamonds, which caused the truckers to look askance as

The door finally opened and Pete appeared in shirt sleeves. He nodded when he saw the pagoda.

"I'm Mr. Noland," he announced and the truckers didn't doubt it since his voice was entirely different from

The truckers gave the charges and Pete paid them. The apartment door was just broad enough to

accommodate the pagoda and its platform when they were tilted slightly. Inside the living room, Pete opened

the front of the pagoda and let the truckers see that the interior was in good condition, something on which

It sounded distant, but that was because the apartment windows were tight shut. They were locked too, for

Pete thought that was good policy rather than have chance visitors suspect that they were used for more than

ventilation. The telephone was ringing so Pete bowed the truck men out, the door man with them, and closed

Door man and truckers heard Demo's voice take over the telephone, just as they were getting in the service

It couldn't have been very long, for the passenger elevator had gone up when the service car reached the

ground floor. Seeing some police in the lobby, one door man went to find out why they were there while the

truckers, not wanting to get mixed in something that didn't concern them, hurried out to their truck, loaded on

Nobody stopped them because Inspector Cardona had given orders not to disturb anybody downstairs. Still

thinking that the mysterious phone call might be a hoax, Cardona wanted to start with a visit to Apartment

12J. By this time, Joe had recalled what Demo's name meant. It stood for telephone tricks and the fellow

might just have the temerity to be staging some sort of publicity stunt to annoy the police, something that

Just as the passenger elevator arrived on the twelfth floor, the telephone jangled from Demo's apartment.

Nobody answered it, which struck Cardona as odd. Motioning to the elevator man Cardona gestured for the

fellow's pass key. The man supplied it and to the tune of the ringing telephone, Cardona unlocked the

Whether or not Joe expected murder, he found it. Stretched on the floor in front of the Golden Pagoda was a

body, twisted in death. One look at the chunky frozen face was all the elevator man needed. He gulped:

Wheeling around with leveled gun, Cardona saw that the living room was empty. Keeping his eye on a far

"I have a question, Mr. Sharpe," said a voice. "A friend of mine named Clinton says that you can answer it.

"Because you're supposed to tell me. What I want to know is the name of the card I took."

Savagely, Cardona clamped down the receiver and stalked to the far door. Flinging it open, he saw a lighted

bed room, as empty as the living room. As Cardona came back, the telephone started a new jangle.

"Call the lobby," Joe told the elevator man. "Use the house phone. Say that I want one of my men to come up

in the service elevator. The other is to use the stairs. They're to be on the lookout for a murderer."

"You you mean Mr. Noland?" stammered the elevator man. "He lives with Mr. Sharpe. Only he isn't a

Cardona flung open the doors of the pagoda, saw that it was empty. Going to the windows, he checked them,

found every window clamped. Continuing through the little apartment, Joe searched it rapidly but thoroughly.

One cop arrived in the service elevator and Cardona sent him down the stairs to meet the other. Meanwhile

the door man was staring at Demo's body and protesting that Pete must still be around. He'd come up with the

"They were both here!" the door man testified. "Demo was on the phone when we went down. The murder

would have taken Pete so long that he couldn't have gotten away before you arrived!"

"He's gone now, Noland is," Cardona said. "You two can take those elevators down. I'll stay here and phone

Door man and elevator man left. Out in the hallway Cardona watched them close the elevator doors. Along

with those heavy clangs, Joe thought he heard something else, but wasn't quite sure what it was.

The sound might have come from Demo's apartment. Going back there, Cardona swung his gun around the

place, but in that broad glance he failed to see anything that was disturbed. That fact brought a sharp grunt

Joe Cardona had encountered the thing he didn't believe could exist, the perfect sealed room mystery wherein

a murderer had vanished, leaving nothing but a victim. Yet in this investigation it was quite logical that such

There were no police outside the Albuquerque Arms when The Shadow's cab arrived there, but the

headquarters car, parked in front, advertised the fact that something had gone wrong. Telling Shrevvy to drive

around the block, The Shadow looked for traces of the Unicorn truck but it had gone.

That left Demo's window as the next objective, so The Shadow, back in form, dropped from the cab at the

right vantage spot. This was where he could reach the next apartment building and use its automatic elevator

to the roof, but first The Shadow wanted to see if Demo's window was lighted. There was a convenient spot

Someone was easing along the twelfth floor ledge, someone who wasn't as familiar with that catwalk as was

Demo. This man was practically feeling his way on hands and knees as though he dreaded the transit. It

wouldn't take much more than a slip of his own nerves to shake him from that ledge.

From somewhere in the lower darkness a rifle crackled. The Shadow could almost see the ping of the bullet

above the crawling man. The fellow hesitated, wavered, and the sniper's long range weapon spoke again.

If smart, the hidden sniper would not try to actually hit his target. The man on the ledge, unquestionably Pete

Noland, would soon yield to the threat of those whimpering bullets and their leaden bashes. If his knees gave

way to his nerves, he would plunge from the ledge and his death, would be attributed to a fall.

They seemed distant, those rifle shots, but they couldn't be too far away. The marksman's gun was probably

muffled in lieu of a silencer that would have either limited its accuracy or restricted the number of its rounds.

In fact The Shadow was lucky to have heard its reports at all, as he realized when he started in their general

Lost among the restricting walls of buildings, the rifle fire could only be heard from a few special spots. One

such place had fortunately been The Shadow's location. In turn, that gave him a clue to where the rifle man

Coming to a long narrow passage between two buildings a block from the Arms, The Shadow saw the rifle

deliver an upward spurt and plainly heard its thudding report from straight ahead. Whether the shots had so

far taken toll, The Shadow didn't look back to see. The first step was to end the menace; if that failed, next

The Shadow simply let blast with his .45 automatic in the direction of the rifle spurt.

There was a sudden clatter, the muffled sound of an overturning ashcan. Automatic still blazing, The Shadow

drove ahead and brought up suddenly and hard against a solid brick wall. This alley had a deadend right in

the middle; the rifle had been shooting over the top of it. Therefore The Shadow's return fire had merely

The wall wasn't too high to scale, even though The Shadow lacked an ashcan as a springboard.

Unfortunately, the top of the wall was lined with sharppointed pickets which had somehow been overlooked

in the scrapmetal drives. It took time for The Shadow to maneuver past those and before he could emerge

from the alley on the other side, the sound of a motor from the street announced the departure of the rifle

Shrevvy's cab arrived about a minute later. It had a habit of appearing places almost as unexpectedly as The

Shadow. But Shrevvy had come from the wrong direction; he hadn't seen the departing car and by now it had

There were some police whistles sounding, for The Shadow's shots, louder than the muffled rifle, had

disturbed the neighborhood. So The Shadow used the cab for a quick departure, watching from the window

for traces of Pete Noland. There was no sign of anyone on that high ledge; so if Pete hadn't fallen, he, by this

As Cranston, The Shadow arrived at the Albuquerque Arms and went right up to Demo's apartment. His

appearance there was more than a surprise to Cardona; the inspector was almost inclined to regard it with

suspicion, now that Cranston had joined a magicians' club and magic was so definitely linked to murder.

But Cranston had an explanation, as good as it was unusual. Nodding to Cardona, he thumbed first at the

"That something had happened to Demo," explained Cranston. "I was working the telephone trick and the

Cranston had pictured it just right, so the explanation went with Cardona. Then:

"If you're so smart at solving riddles," declared Joe, "riddle me this one. What's happened to the murderer?"

"Where else?" retorted Cardona. "There's his body, isn't it? He was talking on the telephone when the pagoda

"No. The pagoda was for a fellow named Noland. He signed for it and here's the receipt."

"That's what I'm asking," Cardona said glumly. "He didn't have time to lam and we've searched the dump

"It's one of those sealed room cases," argued Cardona. "Doors closed, windows clamped; the killer is here,

"Tell me one thing," he said. "Why did you step out of the room after you'd searched the apartment?"

"Step out again and then come back. I won't leave the living room. But if you want me" Cranston's tone

It sounded silly to Cardona but he'd seen one gag realize itself tonight, so he was willing to take the bait

Going out to the hall, Cardona stamped around and returned. Cranston wasn't anywhere in sight.

Remembering that Cranston had said he'd stay in the living room, Cardona gave up. He was staring toward

In the blink of an eye, Cardona was seeing things. Cranston didn't have to shut cabinet doors when he did

magic. Out of nowhere it seemed, he appeared right inside the golden pagoda. Rising he stepped from it the

From the way Cardona toned the word, he was thinking of something else. Then, glancing at the receipt the

"I was thinking Demo might have come in that pagoda," declared Cardona. "I'd forgotten that they'd heard

him talking on the phone. Besides" showed Cranston the receipt "the pagoda only weighs a hundred and

eightythree pounds. Demo himself must weigh a hundred and fifty and thirtythree wouldn't be enough

Giving a hoist at the pagoda platform Cardona estimated that it did weigh about a hundred and eightythree

"A lot," replied Cranston. "You can vanish from that pagoda as well as appear in it."

"I'll take your word for it. So that's why I couldn't find Noland! He worked the illusion backward when he

"But where is Noland now?" demanded Cardona. "Let's say he reappeared when I was out in the hall. What

"You checked the window too early," he told Cardona. "You should have looked at it after you came back."

Cardona looked and saw what Cranston meant. The window was unclamped at present. Hopping over,

"So that's where the guy went!" exclaimed Joe. "Well, if he's hiding anywhere in the neighborhood we'll find

Cranston doubted that Pete would be, but he didn't say so. Furthermore, Cranston was coming to the

conclusion that it would be better to question persons like Varno, Frost and Zito regarding their evening's

Still there were things that Pete could tell, if he could be found, so that task would become The Shadow's.

This third murder, unfortunate though it was, had at least clinched Demo's innocence of earlier crime.

This was one of those cases where the gradual elimination of suspects would eventually narrow the trail to

But The Shadow intended to see to it that further eliminations were not the result of more murder by magic!

Music was mellow at the Club Marimba and Claire Meriden wished that she didn't have to be Miss Libra. It

wasn't fun being pawed by customers who tried to lift her when Zito commanded "Light" or "Heavy."

It was time to be getting ready for the act right now, so Claire went to her dressing room and got out her

costume which was necessarily scanty to prove that it didn't have a lot of hidden weights concealed in it. The

closet door was open and Claire wondered why she'd left it that way. She didn't realize that she hadn't, until

Then from the space that the door had hidden stepped a very grim young man whose picture had been in all

the newspapers. Claire recognized Pete Noland, wanted for the murders of Louie the Grift, Professor Del

Weird, Demo Sharpe, and perhaps a lot of others whose bodies hadn't yet shown up.

Pete had a gun, a logical accessory for a murderer's kitbag. Only for some reason Claire wasn't scared. It

For one thing, his pistol was a longbarreled affair that looked as unprofessional as Del Weird's old

blunderbuss model. Obviously something that he had picked up at random, such a gun lessened the menace

"You've got to help me," he insisted. "You're the only person who knows that Demo Sharpe was out and

around when he was supposed to be handling the telephone stunt. In giving him an alibi, I lost my own!"

"If Demo was murdering people," the blonde said coolly, "how does it happen he became a victim?"

"You don't understand." Finding that Claire at least would listen, Pete parked the pistol on the dressing table.

"Demo was after something else, a fortune if he found it. He wasn't out to kill anybody."

"Yes, but I wasn't the murderer. Look you worked in the Golden Pagoda illusion the other night, didn't

"I know the secret," declared Pete, "because I bought the pagoda. The first thing I did was to see if it was in

"It worked all right." Pete spoke bitterly. "Only nobody popped out alive. Instead, Demo rolled out dead."

Claire's face showed genuine horror. What Pete said was not only graphic but plausible. Claire was thinking

"By then the police were coming," continued Pete. "I knew I was framed, so I used the pagoda for a vanish

Although Pete didn't go into the further details of his sneak trip along the ledge, Claire was quite convinced

"What ruins my story is the fact that the pagoda was weighed before it was brought up to the apartment. It

"I figured that," declared Pete triumphantly. "I've heard about the weight changing act and knew that business

"Of course they're faked," rejoined Claire. "How could my weight be different if they weren't? I'm just doing

"And now I'm ahead of you," continued Claire. "You want to know if Zito's scales were on the truck with

Frost's pagoda. They were and what's more they could have been set to show the usual weight while Demo's

"I don't think so," she argued. "Zito's an all right person. He gave me a job when he first met me at Frost's and

he says now I can quit the Libra grind if I don't like it and still be in line for the lead in his bigger show."

"Now you're talking," Claire told Pete. "Frost is so sleek he's slimy, if you want my unbiased opinion."

"When he wrote about buying the pagoda illusion. It belonged to my great uncle."

"Of course. He left me everything; that is, what was left of it. A nice gilded pagoda and a pair of scales to

"Did you ever hear talk about some jewels?" he queried, in that frank tone of his. "Gems from the Orient that

"They're what Demo was after," asserted Pete, "but from what you say they're really yours. Maybe we'll find

Interrupting herself, Claire raised a hand for silence. She was sure she heard footsteps stopping just outside

the dressing room. Eyes half closed, Pete was pondering and didn't notice Claire's gesture.

"We could get over to Frost's in fifteen minutes," Pete calculated. "Of course we might have a long time

Claire gripped Pete's shoulder and jogged it, motioning for silence with her other hand. She was sure now that

somebody was listening outside that door. Stepping to the door Claire wrenched it inward and a girl came

The eavesdropper was Margo Lane. She came up with a pocketsized automatic from her handbag. All in

one gesture, though a long one, Margo covered Claire and told her to stay where she was. Then Margo turned

The wanted man was on his feet, coolly aiming the longbarreled pistol at Margo. He gestured for her to

hand over her automatic to Claire. Pete told Claire to keep Margo covered, which she did with the brunette's

Blonde and brunette both gave startled cries that ended as the pistol went off with a noiseless bang. It's barrel

clicked apart and the "Bang!" appeared in big letters on a fancy silk handkerchief that unfolded from the trick

"It was the best thing I could find," apologized Pete. "Besides, I would not want to carry a real gun.

Claire needed no apologies, but Margo did. She was much annoyed at having been tricked so easily. Only it

"Since you broke in here, Miss Smarty," decided Claire, "I think I'll break you into the Miss Libra act." To

Pete, Claire added: "Wait for me outside, I'll be right along." Then, tossing the Libra costume to Margo,

Claire backed her next order with the captured gun. "Climb out of your own clothes and into these," she told

Margo. "Make it snappy, because if this trigger slips, a handkerchief won't drop. You will."

Closing the door, Pete tiptoed out the back way. He heard Claire saying that she'd explain the Miss Libra act

while Margo was making the change; then, a few paces along the hall, he could hear no more. In what

amounted to a stage alley outside the Club Marimba, Pete had finished a couple of cigarettes when Claire

"So far, yes," returned Claire with a smile. "It will be up to Zito to convince her further and I think he can. So

Just why Claire was so convinced about Margo's willingness to play Miss Libra remained a mystery, but only

briefly. In about five minutes, blackness appeared suddenly from a door that led back stage at the Marimba,

Finding Claire's door, The Shadow knocked there; getting no response he turned the knob and peered into the

dressing room. Pausing, The Shadow hung his hat and cloak in a dark corner of the corridor and entered the

In a corner was Margo, attired in the chic costume of Miss Libra. She was seated at the end of the dressing

table, her head and hands through the pillories of Zito's new guillotine which Claire had kindly placed at that

convenient elevation. Margo was gagged with Claire's scarf and in front of her, where she could read and

Strolling over, Cranston picked up the note and looked at it while he was untying Margo's gag. Addressed to

Unclamping the hand and neck stocks, Cranston released Margo from the guillotine. Drawing her head from

"They've gone to Frost's," she began. "Claire and Noland. Wait for me" Margo gestured to the door "and

"Certainly." Rising, Margo folded her bare arms and thrust them up toward Cranston's chin. "When Zito says

'Heavy!' I do this and it throws anybody off balance who tries to lift me. When he says 'Light!' I relax"

"You caught on quickly," commended Cranston. "You won't have to show Zito the note. Just tell him you're a

"Why of all the nerve!" exclaimed Margo indignantly. "Unless you're just kidding me, you're worse than

"Not at all," returned Cranston. "I'm saving it, because I'm not waiting for you to come along. But whatever

When Lamont spoke that way, Margo listened. She realized now that something important must be at stake,

that The Shadow's battle to thwart murder by magic was nearing a climax. Arms akimbo, Margo watched

Cranston leave; then, when the door closed, she turned and studied herself in the dressing table mirror.

After all, Margo made a trim Miss Libra, better perhaps than Claire. Maybe that was just a matter of opinion,

but Margo was willing to let the public judge. Claire wouldn't be too happy if her new understudy stole the

Margo Lane was smiling at that thought as she went out to introduce herself to Zed Zito.

Frost's cellar was very dark except where Pete Noland pierced it with a flashlight. Finding this cellar beneath

the basement workshop had been a real discovery in Pete's opinion. Claire Meriden felt the same, except that

none of its discarded junk looked old enough to be magic of the Savanti vintage.

"Anyway, this shows Frost up," claimed Claire. "He says that he only builds streamlined illusions. He bought

"Where else would Frost get new ideas?" queried Pete. "It's easier to revive things that have been forgotten

"Zito can have it," laughed Claire. Then, becoming serious: "Only I hope he did convince that girl."

Pete didn't inquire why. He was busy poking through some old escape tricks, padlocks, handcuffs, and other

"Mr. Winstrom will be at the club tonight," recalled Claire, "and Zito is trying to get him to back the big

Claire broke off. She was beginning to feel sorry for letting Zito down. Pete turned the flashlight into an

"Frost may have buried something underneath it," declared Pete, "except that if he did, he knew its real value.

Rather than waste the dimming battery, Pete turned off the flashlight as they moved to the deep corner. Claire

"There's something fearful about this place," she breathed. "I felt it when we first came down those creaky

old stairs. Only it's more repressive now. Somehow we don't seem to be alone here!"

The flashlight, twinkling again, cast great sweeping silhouettes across the wall and Claire swallowed hard.

Maybe those were just shadows from stacks of old props but one in particular seemed very lifelike as it faded

Not from the stairs at first, but from the floor of the workshop, directly above. It was Pete now who gave the

grip, but only to quiet Claire. The footsteps, which the creaks unquestionably represented, had now reached

"If only we'd closed that door!" groaned Pete. "Still, it wouldn't help. The door was bolted on the other side,

The very suggestion roused Pete to action. Bringing Claire with him, he started for the stairs, making far too

much clatter on the stone floor. Creaks paused in answer, a few steps from the stair top, which was around the

The tone was whispered, between the strained ears of Pete and Claire. The girl was right, someone else was

"Keep talking," ordered the mysterious whispered tone. "Whoever it is, keep him interested. Make him think

Pete knew the speaker couldn't be Claire and Claire knew it couldn't be Pete. But they both realized that a

friend had found them. They were lucky in that The Shadow had trailed them promptly from the Club

"How about those fish bowls?" queried Pete in a loud tone. "Have you looked through them yet?"

Somebody rattled the trunk with the bowls and the glass responded. Pretending that she'd produced the

Fish bowls weren't interesting enough to the intruder on the stairs. His creaks moved upward, signifying that

he probably intended the inevitable, the bolting of the upper door to lock the prisoners bellow. It was a strong

"Say you're going up." The whisper was for Pete. "Say that you have a phone call to make."

"I'm going upstairs," announced Pete loudly. "I'm going to use Frost's telephone."

By then, Claire was getting instructions from The Shadow. She replied to Pete in the words The Shadow gave

"But you can't do that!" the girl exclaimed. "What would anybody think, getting a call from Pete Noland?"

The Shadow was meanwhile prompting Pete, who carried the conversation according to the whisper.

"It won't matter," declared Pete. "Nobody could trace the call. Are you getting scared, Claire?"

"But if anything happened" Claire faltered neatly "to me, for instance well, they'd blame you."

All this was as The Shadow prompted it with whispers and there was more to come.

"I guess they would," said Pete with a halfsneer, "if they found us dead with an empty gun. They'd think

"Don't talk that way, Pete!" Claire's voice showed horror that she didn't have to fake. "It sounds as though it

"Except that I haven't any gun," retorted Pete. "Anyway, I'm going up to the workshop. Coming along?"

"Yes, but since we haven't any flashlight," Claire lied glibly, "you'd better use that bulb with the long

Scuffling sounds denoted a hunt for the extension light that wasn't there. Why The Shadow had imagined that

one was a puzzle to both Pete and Claire as he moved them deeper into the cellar. Anyway, whoever was at

Of a sudden a glowing bulb appeared in the corner where Frost kept his extra supply of modern apparatus. It

moved through the air so amazingly that Pete and Claire suddenly realized it was actually drifting there.

A favorite with magicians, this feat consisted in making an illuminated bulb literally float in midair, clear

across the stage, even when the performer remained at the other side. Now The Shadow was performing the

Riveted, Pete and Claire watched the bulb's peculiar action and realized, each in turn, that it could be

mistaken for a light on an extension cord, carried in a human hand. In darkness, it didn't look like the floating

This was why The Shadow had spoken in terms of an extension cord along with what the world would think

The drifting lamp was around the corner now, and moving toward the stair top. Though they couldn't see it,

Pete and Claire knew its location from the way its glow diminished. They realized too that their unseen friend

The Shadow was not directly behind it, but actually somewhere in the depth of the cellar proper, safely away

The murderer at the top of the stairs had good reason to believe that Claire and Pete were accompanying that

A gun blasted down the stairway. Its first shot blotted the bulb without a tinkle, for other shots stifled all

lesser sounds. There were five of them, all that the killer's gun contained and for the finish, the revolver itself

Those shots would have riddled both Pete and Claire had they been on the stairs!

The murderer had no time to waste and knew it. The stabs were coming closer up the stairway, telling that

The Shadow was surging in. The killer couldn't hope to bolt the door soon enough, even if he closed it.

Instead, he fled through the workshop. Close on the man's heels, The Shadow knew that Pete and Claire

could now look out for themselves. Catching the killer was the task and no easy one.

Into a waiting car, and the murderer was away. Shrevvy's cab took The Shadow on board and the chase

Shrieking around a corner, the fugitive car disgorged its passenger as a roulette wheel would throw a spinning

ball. Huddled over, the killer raced through a back alley to the side door of an old house. Spinning from

Through a little hallway, into a tiny back room; there, the murderer slammed the door. Out from a front parlor

sprang a stocky figure that turned as The Shadow flung inward through the darkness. There was a wild,

furious grapple that occupied The Shadow for one full and precious minute; then he and his new adversary hit

Coming up with his gun, The Shadow looked for the killer. He was gone! Studying the groggy man who had

blocked him and given that stout tussle, The Shadow wearily removed his hat and cloak, tossed them in a

It was several minutes before Cardona regained anything resembling equilibrium. From a chair, he blinked

"Going past Frosts," related Cranston, "I saw somebody come running out. So I went after him and he

"Another tipoff," growled Joe. "Like the one telling me about Demo's place. Another phony."

"That's how I figure it," nodded Cardona. "I have a hunch I'd like to talk to young Noland. He wouldn't have

"Too silly. None of these magic guys are really cracked; they're just half way. Border line cases, the

"It's got a good stunt in it," continued Cardona. "A trick where two guys each learn to talk in the same voice.

One turns off the lights while he's talking; the other picks up the spiel and the first guy does a sneak. When

"More than nice," approved Cardona. "Demo said in the manuscript that he'd tested the voice stuff with a

friend. Who else could the friend be but Noland and what else could the test be but the telephone stunt?"

Cranston nodded. This was putting Pete well into the clear. So Cranston reverted to something else.

"The vanish idea was nice," he declared, "but it wasn't the way the real murderer worked it just now."

It was in the ceiling all right and it had been clamped tight. Cardona looked at the square opening with its

"To keep you watching a forgotten hideaway," analyzed Cranston. "Then, in a pinch, he found it was the only

place that he could use. Of course it may not be a hideaway exactly. We're dealing with somebody very

Pausing, Cranston proved the point by yanking open a table drawer where he had seen a patch of projecting

silk. He pulled out some colorful handkerchiefs of the sort magicians use, a few gimmicks of a common type,

"Maybe we can trace the killer from these," decided Cardona. "Unless every magician owns this sort of

"Every magician does," assured Cranston, "and so does every five dollar member of the Universal Wizards

Association. Likewise every schoolboy who has the price after he has learned of things called magic shops."

Showing the slate back and front, Cranston placed it in Cardona's hands and waved his fingers above it.

Sight of the chalk written message stupefied Cardona. Clapping the inspector on the back, Cranston turned to

"See you later, inspector," said Cranston. "If I run into young Noland I'll have him look you up."

When Cranston arrived at the Club Marimba some time later, he was just in time to hear a loud burst of

applause as Margo Lane bowed off quite gracefully in the pantywaist costume that she was wearing as Miss

"Soon after you left. I was a good girl and told Zito that Claire was my dearest friend. I just simply had to

come here and take her place after I heard she'd fallen down the subway steps and broken a leg."

"Because I wished Claire had. Poor Zito! He's been calling every hospital in town and I'm afraid to tell him

"You have," assured Cranston. "You've given him the alibi he needed. Since Zito has been here all evening,

Over at a table, Winstrom was gesturing for Cranston to join him. Cranston did, hauling Margo along, despite

her protests that her Libra costume wasn't quite in keeping with the fashionable gowns worn by the ladies in

"You're coming anyway," Cranston told her, "because Zito is over at the table and it's time you admitted the

It wasn't her costume or lack of it that flustered Margo when she reached the table. It was the pathetic glance

"Miss Lane has been so nice," declared Zito, "When she heard that Claire was hurt "

It was Winstrom who interrupted, his face quite amazed. Then, with a dawn of recognition, he bowed to

"Do you know, I never recognized you. Why, at the first show, I was wondering why you weren't a blonde.

Of course I was called to the telephone and I had to go and meet these friends of mine, so I didn't see much of

"I had a few before it began," he admitted. "But I can still do magic. Want to see some?"

Margo nodded and Winstrom brought out a pack of cards. He always needed a few drinks to start doing any

tricks and even then Winstrom invariably depended upon mechanical appliances. Margo had heard all that,

Holding the pack, Winstrom riffled the end and told Margo to take a card. She inserted her finger and stopped

There was a reason for the exclamation. In bold letters, Winstrom's menu card bore the written words: "Jack

Winstrom smiled and put the pack away. Across the table, Cranston was finishing an earnest chat with Zito,

who nodded very happily. Evidently Cranston had explained that Claire was all right, for rather than have

Glad of the opportunity, Margo went to the dressing room and discarded the Miss Libra trappings. Just when

she had finished dressing, the door opened and Claire appeared, to stop short in surprise.

"It's all right," said Margo, very nicely, "and thanks. Only I have a friend who wants to tell you something

On the way down the corridor, Margo met Cranston. He nodded and went to tell Claire. Only Margo didn't

Riding back to her apartment in Shrevvy's cab, Margo was very silent until she arrived there. Then, in a meek

"You mean Winstrom's card trick?" inquired Cranston, as though he didn't know that Margo was referring to

"It's in every magic catalog, you know," continued Cranston, "and you can buy it in any magic shop. The

pack that makes you take the same card every time. All magicians have them, but they don't always write the

name on a menu. Sometimes it appears mysteriously on a slate. Always the same card."

"With Winstrom's pack, yes," replied Cranston. "But I'm looking for the magician who makes you take the

Pete Noland was still in hiding but he didn't have to be. The police were looking for him only to make other

Inspector Cardona made this official in a sense, but did it privately. He issued the statement in Winstrom's

living room in the presence of Wade Winstrom and Lamont Cranston, where the conference was held at

"There was a lot of shooting at Frost's place last night," explained Cardona, "and that's the sort of stuff you

can take or leave. For instance, Louie the Grift was killed in Cigam's shop but we aren't blaming Cigam."

"Still, Frost could have decoyed somebody there," said Joe. "It would have been a smart move on his part.

The very fact that Cigam wound up with a clean slate might have given Frost the idea he could do the same."

Something that Cardona himself had said caused him to become meditative, which wasn't a common thing

"What we've still got to establish is a motive. That's what I've got to look into now."

Going down in the elevator, Cardona was thinking of anything but a motive. What was running through Joe's

That was just what Cardona wanted, a clean slate like the one he'd found in the murderer's hideout, the kind

that produced a message when you called for it. Working backwards, Cardona hadn't reached the point of

Reaching Cigam's, Cardona told the drab man the kind of slate he wanted. Cigam asked:

"Don't be a sucker," confided Cigam. "That single slate job costs too much. They call it the perfect slate, so

what? With a pair of ordinary spirit slates you can get the same effect. They cost you a buck fifty, the perfect

Cardona still wanted the single slate version, no matter what the price. So Cigam fished under the counter and

found the only one he had. Dusting it off, he wrapped it along with the instruction sheet.

"It works easy," assured Cigam, "only there's not much call for them. By the way, you'll want a Svengali to

"Yes. That's what they call this pack." Cigam brought one from the shelf. "Try to make it give you any other

Going out the door, Cardona bumped into Val Varno, who was now doing his coin roll in clusters. Varno

"Getting magicminded, inspector? Better drop around and see me work tonight at the S.O.S."

Cardona bought a ticket and went back to his office. There he unwrapped the oneslate miracle and started to

read its very explicit instructions. Oddly, Cardona didn't have to learn how the trick was done to do it.

The instructions said to lay the slate flat, turn it sideways to show the other side, then tilt it upward against

Cardona did just that and during the process he saw for himself that the slate was entirely blank.

At least it was quite blank until the final turn around. Then, to Cardona's amazement, the slate revealed a

It wasn't just the magical result that dumbfounded the ace inspector. After all, Cardona had seen Cranston

produce a slate message with the same minimum of effort. The thing that would have knocked Joe out of his

That was enough to send a squad car to bring in Cigam and start quizzing him all over again. Only Cardona

managed to swallow the insult in favor of gathering more evidence. Remembering the Svengali pack that

Quite convinced that no pack in the world could always make you take the same card, Cardona saw a chance

to arrest Cigam for taking money under false pretenses. But that failed too, after Joe began trying the

When Joe riffled the pack and a detective took a card it always turned out to be the deuce of diamonds.

Cardona was really getting magicminded. He was thinking of going back to Cigam's and buying more of

these wonderful packs. He'd let anybody say what card they wanted and he'd let them have it from the

correct pack. Out of that mental whirl, Cardona suddenly grabbed the telephone and called the Cobalt Club,

"Remember that slate that said the nine of spades?" Joe inquired. "All right, I just bought a pack that makes

you take the same card all the time. I got a slate to go with it, or maybe it was the other way around."

Cranston complimented Cardona and suggested that he join the Universal Wizards Association.

"Not much," retorted Joe. "I've heard of a better outfit, the Society of Sorcery. I'm going to their show tonight

and I'm going to keep on going to magic shows. Do you know why? Because I'm going to find some

"The fellow who used that hideaway forgot his slate and probably thought it didn't matter. What he really

forgot and what does matter was the writing on that slate. It said nine of spades and it's a safe bet that our

When the curtain rose on the S.O.S. show, Cranston was there with Cardona. None of the first three acts

performed either the paper hat trick or the linking rings. They didn't even do card fans, because of the

The S.O.S. was different. Everybody on its bill was so anxious to avoid the hats and the rings that they all did

The milk trick consisted in pouring a pitcher load of milk into a paper cone from which it vanished The sticks

were a pair of wands that had a cord running through holes in one end; whenever the cord was cut it would

restore itself when the performer or more correctly performers drew it through again.

The spectators had a good nickname for the Society of Sorcery. They simply termed it "Same Old Stuff!" and

the soubriquet fitted. The show was even given in the same place as the Wizards' show, the Chianti ball room,

One act was somewhat different: Val Varno. He did his cigarette routine and for a finish, he performed a

singular stunt known as the "Card and Ribbon." An empty envelope was affixed to a ribbon with sealing wax.

The other end of the ribbon was hung from a stand so that the envelope dangled below.

Riffling a pack, Val had a spectator take a card and write his name across it. Replaced in the pack, the marked

card vanished, Val riffling the pack to show that it wasn't among the rest. The envelope was opened and the

card with the writing found inside it. Val took the card to the person who had chosen it and had him identify

It was all very wonderful and the whole audience appreciated it, particularly Joe Cardona.

For the chosen card that underwent those peregrinations was none other than the nine of spades!

Lamont Cranston could have written a prediction right there and then. As the show neared its conclusion,

Cardona left the audience, as Cranston expected. To Margo, Cranston suggested that they walk out too,

In the foyer they found Wade Winstrom listening to Glanville Frost trying to sell him what Frost termed an

"exclusive." That was one of Frost's rackets, to hook a customer for a fancy price on a single trick. Then after

the purchaser popularized it, the trick would suddenly hit the market in quantity.

Knowing this, Winstrom was wary. He was glad when Cranston and Margo appeared for it gave him a

chance to shake off Frost. Not a member of the S.O.S., which didn't get along too well with the U.W.A.,

"Open house this evening," Winstrom reminded. "Some of the people have gone up to the penthouse already.

I guess they couldn't stand this show" he was shaking his head sadly "and I must confess it's really

At that moment Cardona appeared from the door that led back stage, bringing Val Varno clipped in a pair of

handcuffs. Before anybody could ask why, Varno raised his manacles and shook them at Glanville Frost.

"It's on account of the card and ribbon!" Varno practically shrieked. "Only you're the guy who sold it to me,

For once Frost was too flustered to try. In a nice impartial style, Cardona clamped a pair of handcuffs on

"We're going down to headquarters. You fellows can saw each other in half down there."

"What about Winstrom's penthouse?" he inquired. "You held the last quiz up there. I guess Winstrom can call

Under the circumstances, Winstrom could. He nodded and the group went to the elevator. On the way up to

the penthouse, Margo gave a slight shudder, as she found herself standing between Varno and Frost.

It wasn't pleasant to be in the same elevator with a murderer, particularly the kind whose crimes were worked

As to which person was the actual killer, Margo was wondering if even The Shadow knew!

Several guests were already in the penthouse looking around at Winstrom's apparatus. The library was locked

along with the room that held the play bills because Winstrom always locked those rooms when he went out.

Cranston had been up here with other guests earlier. He had seen Winstrom lock up before they all went

Now Winstrom was politely dismissing the guests, telling them to come some other time. When the unwanted

guests were gone, Cardona came right down to business. He spoke his piece to Frost and Varno mutually.

"All right, whichever of you knows," asserted Cardona. "The motive and out with it."

"I can tell you the motive, inspector," put in Cranston, calmly. "The killer is after some gems once valued at a

hundred thousand dollars and probably worth more than that today. They once belonged to the Sultan of

"Demo Sharpe unearthed it," corrected Cranston. "He told it to Pete Noland who passed it along to me."

"I have," replied Cranston. "I reached him through Claire Meriden, who believed his story just as I do. You

were right, inspector, in drawing your conclusions from Demo's manuscript. Pete was doubling for Demo

"It was shipped up in the pagoda," explained Cranston. "The weight was faked with Zito's scales. We can

Everybody looked interested including Varno and Frost, though their expressions never could be accepted at

Wade Winstrom made one of his big gestures that included all the antique apparatus in the living room.

"Some of this equipment belonged to the Great Savanti!" exclaimed Winstrom. "Could that have anything to

"It had everything to do with it," assured Cranston. "Assuming that Savanti hid the missing gems in some

"Let's look!" suggested Winstrom. Then, relaxing: "No, it would take too long right now. Go on with your

"Since you were buying up all antique apparatus," Cranston told Winstrom, "Demo Sharpe was trying to

examine all such items before they ever reached you." Then, turning to Frost and Varno as though one of

them at least deserved more information, Cranston added: "And somebody was trying to get at that apparatus

"That explains what happened at Cigam's!" expressed Joe. "Somebody planted the firing wand to get Demo.

"But what about Del Weird?" queried Cardona. "He'd already shipped his apparatus here. Why was Del

"Because he knew too much about Savanti," Cranston explained. "Demo Sharpe was trying to reach Professor

Del Weird. Probably Del Weird knew nothing about the jewels, but he could have given important clues to

"And Demo was bumped because he got too hot on the trail." Joe looked from Varno to Frost. "Say, that

business of Zito's scales ought to lead back to one of you fellows. Didn't you own those scales once, Frost?"

"They came with the pagoda," admitted Frost, "but Varno knew how they worked. Talk to him, inspector."

Before Cardona could quiz Varno, Cranston interrupted. He said the room was getting stuffy and asked

Winstrom to unlock the other doors. As soon as Winstrom obliged, Cranston called:

Out from the library stepped Pete Noland and Claire Meriden, their arms loaded with framed play bills and

"Sorry, Winstrom," apologized Cranston. "I brought these people up here earlier and slipped them into the

library while you were talking to the other guests. I wanted them to do a little research on the Great Savanti."

The research had been done. Pete and Claire spread the books and play bills on a couch and began to talk

"Never mind about the pagoda illusion," interrupted Winstrom. "We're trying to uncover some mysterious

Pete shook his head, but Claire opened one of the books which proved to be a bound set of a longforgotten

"Here's a report on Savanti's show," Claire said. "It mentions candy and that's something like jewels. In size

and shape I mean. It mentions the wonderful vase in which candy appears and a cannon ball vanishes."

Winstrom gave a depreciating gesture toward the cannon ball globe which was standing proudly amid the

"Just a hollow cannon ball," said Winstrom. "It's filled with candy which appears when the cannon ball splits

"Not often enough, perhaps," he remarked. "From everything I've heard about the Great Savanti, his work

"Because it says that the candy appeared," recited Cranston, "and that the cannon ball vanished. In the usual

Taking the cannon ball from the globe, Cranston replaced the top half of the latter. Never before had anyone

attempted to work the trick in that condition; except of course Savanti. It didn't take Cranston long to find the

There was the sound of a plunger, noisy because it needed oil, shooting upward in the pedestal. From within

the globe came the rattle of what seemed a miniature hailstorm. Cranston opened the globe and poured its

They formed a cascade of living brilliance, the crown jewels of Malkara, as Cranston drained the globe to the

final gem. Wonderful candy, this, worth a thousand dollars a bite and guaranteed to retain its taste during all

Extremely clever, too, because the trick wouldn't work while the cannon ball was in the globe and anyone

who operated this apparatus as Winstrom often had would only have tried it while the cannon ball was

Now Winstrom was coming forward, his hands eager as though he wanted to rinse them in that glittering bath

of solidified color. Stepping aside, Cranston's swung the jewelfilled jar past Winstrom's grasp and tendered

"Your legacy," Cranston told Claire with a smile. "From your greatuncle, the Great Savanti!"

If chagrin had ever overwhelmed any man, that man was Wade Winstrom. Others, their eyes on the splendor

of the gems, failed to notice Winstrom's changed expression, but Cranston was watching for it.

This was a payoff so unexpected that no man could have veiled his true emotions. Certainly Winstrom

didn't, though he recovered rapidly. By then, however, his cause had suffered irrevocable damage. The

congratulations that Winstrom offered Claire over her newfound wealth sounded as hollow as the cannon

"About the pagoda illusion," corrected Pete. "You ought to know, because you gave me the suggestion."

"That's right," he said. "Savanti billed the pagoda illusion as the invisible flight. It wasn't just a production,

the way Frost worked it. Evidently it was something in the nature of a transposition."

"The scales belonged with the pagoda," continued Cranston, reflectively. "Now suppose somebody vanished

from the pagoda. It would have been a great effect, wouldn't it, if the weight had suddenly dropped at the

"But there would have to be something equally sensational to complete the illusion. Suppose there was a

second pagoda on the other side of the stage, resting on another set of scales. If the weight over there

suddenly raised and the girl appeared from that empty pagoda, it would be very wonderful indeed."

"It would be so wonderful," added Cranston, "that the Great Savanti would logically have termed the pagoda

"And that's what it was," asserted Pete. "There were two pagodas, just as you've said. None of Savanti's play

bills dispute it. They just say "the pagoda illusion" which could mean any number of pagodas. Only there

Pete was flourishing an old book to prove it, one of Winstrom's very rare volumes that he seldom let people

see. For what Winstrom hadn't known about the cannon ball globe, he did know about the pagoda illusion.

Angrily, Winstrom made a grab for the book, only to have Cranston block him off.

"You own all sorts of odd apparatus," remarked Cranston. "Tell me, Winstrom, did you ever have a firing

"Of course you did," stated Cranston. "You planted it at Cigam's to kill Demo. You were the somebody who

wanted to go through Savanti's apparatus first. Until it reached here, you had to block Demo's hunt."

Coldly logical all this, plus the fact that Winstrom played dumb, or at least indifferent.

Only now as Cardona saw it, Winstrom as the prospective owner would have been the first man to protect his

"Fixing Del Weird's wine and water setup was as simple up here as downstairs," analyzed Cranston. "I think

Margo will remember that Del Weird was carrying his suitcase flat when he came down, which meant he had

everything arranged inside it. So you can't alibi yourself where that murder is concerned, Winstrom."

"Odd about Demo," continued Cranston, turning to Pete. "He must have been doing a lot of searching, those

long evenings when you handled the telephone mystery for him. Where else could Demo have spent more

It was Cranston now, who furnished the broad, sweeping gesture that not only included the masses of antique

magic in this room, but carried toward the hall. Stepping in that direction, Cranston indicated the store room.

"You laid a nice trap there, Winstrom," Cranston stated. "Gadgets set so that they'd start working as soon as

anybody handled them. That fact finally caught Demo. You'd been waiting for Del Weird's shipment to come

Duplicate pagoda and scales had been put on the Unicorn truck by Winstrom's servants, after they had

murdered Demo Sharpe and stowed him in the pagoda. The Vanguard truck had been summoned separately

"Of course if you hadn't quite caught Demo," Cranston told Winstrom from the outer door, "he would have

fallen down the service elevator shaft. You ought to have that door fixed, Winstrom. Or I might say you

"No wonder you walked out on Zito's act at the Club Marimba!" accused Margo. "When you saw that I was

Miss Libra instead of Claire, you figured something odd was brewing, and maybe at Frost's! Cute of you, to

pretend you didn't recognize me later, while I was still in that Libra harness!"

"You were cute," corrected Cardona. "Winstrom here was just smart. Playing two bets as usual. When things

fluked at Frost's, he headed for that phoney hideaway he'd fixed to look as though it belonged to Varno. He

"I was dumb enough to think that Varno planted that slate at Cigam's. But from the way Cigam dusted it off, I

should have known it was there from away back; probably you put it there when you fixed the firing wand,

"Nice stuff too, that nine of spades." Cardona turned to Varno and Frost. "Am I guessing right, Frost, in

thinking you tried to sell that card and ribbon stunt to Winstrom, before letting Varno take it, pack and all?"

"That explains how you framed Varno then," Cardona told Winstrom. "So come along and we'll clean up any

Winstrom didn't think so. He gave a huge bellow that brought Frederick and the other servants, all of whom

had been snooping close enough to know that their interests were at stake along with Winstrom's. Horrified,

Margo saw that Cranston was gone from the hallway; then, a sudden stir of blackness proved that The

In springing for Cardona and Pete, Winstrom's servants ignored Frost and Varno because the two were

handcuffed. The exprisoners took advantage of that oversight. In from the flanks they came and each

brought a pair of handcuffed wrists hard against the head of a charging servant.

They were escape artists among other things, Frost and Varno. They knew the system for springing

handcuffs, namely, by striking them sharply against some hard object at just the right angle, The hard objects

Handcuffs flew wide and Frost and Varno, with two knockouts to their credit were free to help suppress the

Only Winstrom himself managed to start a getaway which carried him as far as the store room. Passing The

Shadow behind a screen of tumbling servants, Winstrom yanked open the store room door and wheeled out

with a rifle. Backing toward the service elevator, he aimed the weapon down the hall.

"I nearly finished you with this!" Winstrom was storming at Pete, who was framed in the living room door. "I

was the sniper who wanted to shake you off that ledge and close the Demo case for good! Now I'm really

Frantically Claire tried to haul Pete to cover and put herself in the rifle's path instead, just as Winstrom fired.

Only Claire didn't fall; instead, she picked up the ends of a ribbon that apparently was running right through

This wasn't Winstrom's regular rifle. The Shadow had switched it in the store room, leaving a different type

in its place. Winstrom had fired a special rifle from his collection of magical apparatus, the one used in a

Along the hallway, Winstrom heard the whisper of doom. He saw blackness moving toward him, living

The Shadow was approaching, ready to deliver final vengeance should Wade Winstrom ask for it.

Madly, Winstrom flung the useless rifle at the blackcloaked figure and yanked open the door of the service

Time seemed to hang during those next few seconds until there came a dull, mangling crash from far below,

Winstrom should have remembered that in times of emergency, his servants saw to it that the service elevator

Another sound stirred from the hallway. It faded with the closing of the outer door that in turn obliterated a

The sound was a strangetoned laugh, the weird evanescent mirth of The Shadow, marking the end of the

5. CHAPTER II. Louie the Grift didn't have one of Cigam's fifty-cent gadgets., page = 7