“What’s more, they may be important. More important than I thought at first. You’d better come with me, back to the apartment. I want you to go over them with me.”
“Not a chance, Colin. We’re through as friends.”
“What’s biting you, Dave?” Colin’s tone was wondering. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and chuckled.
“I’ve got it. The Pioneer Club. There’s where I did fake my story.”
Dave’s expression showed that the truth was out. Colin laughed dryly.
“I’ve been bounced from the Pioneer Club,” he admitted. “The only hangout I have is the Club Monterey. It’s a gambling joint and I’ve lost a lot of money there. That’s one reason why I didn’t care to talk about the place. But I haven’t been doing any gambling lately, Dave.
“The real reason I’ve been stopping at the Club Monterey is to put up a bluff. To help you, Dave. If I hadn’t blown in there, certain people might have wondered where I was keeping myself. That wouldn’t have been so good, since you were keeping out of sight at my apartment.”
Dave looked partly convinced. Colin added to his account.
“This fellow Zack Ruggey,” he remarked. “I told you I had seen him once. It was at the Club Monterey, in a poker game. Zack had a friend who still hangs around there. A gambler named Hype Mellick. I doubt that there’s any real connection between them, for the police haven’t quizzed Hype. But since Zack was mixed in the Chinatown business, it was only wise to keep an eye on Hype.
“I’ve been friendly with the fellow, particularly because I owe him a few dollars from a gambling debt. I keep assuring him that he’ll have his money soon. Have to convince him that I’m strapped, right at present, with just enough cash to carry me through the month.
“But I didn’t want to alarm you. Dave. That was all. You’ve heard my story. Go ahead and check it. If Mark or Dryer have been snooping and hearing things about me, I’d like to know the truth of the matter. What did they tell you, Dave?”
“Nothing,” replied Dave, a bit sheepishly. “Mark merely mentioned that he was a member of the Pioneer Club. When I asked about your membership there, he said that you had been dropped long ago. It made me suspicious though.”
“Naturally. I had told you definitely that I had been to the Pioneer Club and was going there again. Now you know the truth. Does that square it?”
“Yes. Your story clears the whole matter. We might as well go back to the apartment, Colin. You’re right about the possibility of danger here.”
“All right. But before we start, tell me about your trip to the museum. You were pretty sketchy when you called me on the telephone. What did you think of the place?”
“I saw the Chinese Room. I didn’t say much about it; but it impressed me as a place of importance. The curator said that Ku Luan superintended its construction.”
“I know he did.”
“It looks air-tight, Colin. That fact made me do some thinking. I’ve lived in China. I know how crafty the Chinese can be when it comes to hiding treasure.”
DAVE paused. He was picturing the room at the museum.
“That large statue in the center,” he said, slowly. “It was firmly set in place, Colin. Ku Luan could have put it there with purpose.”
“There are other statues in the room?”
“Yes. But they are all small. One is gold, the rest are silver. But the large statue is bronze, and it is by far the heaviest. It looks very bulky, standing in the center of the room. I would like to see what is under it, Colin.”
“Tell that to the curator,” chuckled Colin. “He wouldn’t budge that statue on a bet.”
“He might,” objected Dave, “if I had evidence to prove that something important lay beneath.”
“But where’s the evidence?”
“In the teakwood box, perhaps.”
Colin nodded.
“Back at the start again,” he mused. “Dave, we’ll have to locate that teakwood box. It may mean a search in Chinatown.”
“I’m game, Colin. Trouble has ended there. I know the language—”
“You’d better not think about Chinatown until tomorrow. If we’re starting for the apartment, Dave, we’d better be—”
Colin paused suddenly. He was facing toward the corner where the wardrobe cabinet stood. The top of the bulky piece of furniture did not come quite to the level of the connecting door. Just by chance, Colin had spied something. He had seen a motion of the door.
“We’d better be going, Dave,” resumed Colin. As he spoke, he nudged his companion and swung Dave about. “That is, if we’re going at all. I’m beginning to see good reasons, though, why we ought to stay right here.”
Dave, too, had caught the slight quiver of the door. Someone beyond had accidentally jarred it. Listeners were at hand, even though they could see nothing. Dave stared at Colin, puzzled.
“It’s foggy out,” remarked Colin, glibly. “Bad driving; and this room will do for both of us. It’s big and comfortable. We might as well keep it for the night. You’ve paid for it, anyway.”
“A good idea, Colin.” Dave was still perplexed. He watched Colin pull an envelope from his pocket, thrust it back and bring out another. “We won’t be starting anything until tomorrow. That will be the right time to start our new plans.”
Colin was writing with a pencil. He began new talk about the fog. His writing complete, he thrust the envelope into Dave’s hand; then strolled to the window and opened it. He uttered a “brrr” as he felt the chill of entering mist. Dave was noting Colin’s written message.
“We are watched,” it said. “Pretend that we are staying here. Turning in. Once the lights are out, we can sneak away.”
DAVE looked at Colin and nodded. Colin, in turn, nudged his thumb toward the window. Dave remembered an outer roof, the top of a two-story extension at this side of the hotel. It offered a perfect avenue for departure.
“Chilly,” wheezed Colin from the window. He lowered the sash. “We’ll keep this window closed until we turn in. Let’s have a drink, Dave.”
Catching the idea, Dave began a clatter with some empty glasses that were on the bureau. Colin, approaching, whispered:
“Later, we’ll fake going to bed. With the lights out, we can do a sneak through the window. Meanwhile make it sound like we’re working on a bottle. Getting soused, so we couldn’t keep quiet even if we wanted to.”
In the next room, Harry Vincent had entered the closet to make a cautious telephone call to Doctor Roy Tam. The Shadow’s agent was sending a report of what he and Miles Crofton had overheard. Harry was forwarding full details of the Chinese Room at the Oriental Museum. On that point, he and Miles had scored.
Otherwise, however, The Shadow’s agents had been bluffed. They had fallen for the stall that Colin Eldreth had connived. Oddly, Colin’s efforts to regain Dave Kelroy’s confidence had been aided by the unwitting agents of The Shadow.
CHAPTER XVII. THE BURIED LAIR
DOCTOR ROY TAM was seated at his desk. His hand was resting idly upon the telephone, as indication of a completed call. Doctor Tam had just heard Harry Vincent’s report from the Thurbley Hotel. New word for The Shadow.
That was why Doctor Tam’s face was troubled. He had expected the call to be from The Shadow himself. The Shadow had fared forth upon a lone and dangerous quest. He had gone against the advice of Doctor Roy Tam.
True, The Shadow had adopted a Chinese guise; but even that fact did not assure his safety. Staring from the window of his office, Doctor Tam could see the brilliance of the street, where long lines of incandescent bulbs festooned the walls of pagoda-topped buildings. Glittering restaurant signs, bright windows of Oriental marts, the light-splashed marquee of a Chinese theater — such showed Chinatown upon the surface. That was all.