SOME time afterward, a light clicked in The Shadow’s sanctum. A white hand laid a sheet of paper upon the table. It was the hotel clerk’s memorandum; the notation that bore the telephone numbers of the Merrimac Club and Irwin Langhorne’s home.
The hand inscribed a name upon another sheet of paper. A single name, it stood out in vivid letters. The name was Roderick. It was all The Shadow needed. A man named Roderick, a member of the Merrimac Club. He was the murderer whom The Shadow sought to-night.
The light clicked out. A low laugh resounded in the Stygian gloom. Chance had intervened again to aid the cause of Thade, The Death Giver. Irwin Langhorne had died, through his own foolish disobedience of The Shadow.
That death was to be regretted. It would mean the beginning of a new campaign of slaughter. Another victim would be named, with useless deaths preceding the attack upon him.
But The Shadow’s mesh had tightened. He had learned the identity of a man close to The Death Giver.
Before new crime could be fostered, The Shadow might find the chance to strike!
Master of darkness versus master of death. The Shadow against Thade!
The climax of the terrible drama was drawing near!
CHAPTER XIV. FIENDS CONFER
PAUL RODERICK was standing by the lifted grillework that marked the hiding place of Thade’s secret elevator shaft. The clubman had pressed the bell a few minutes before; now the wheezing of air marked the arrival of the descending car.
Roderick entered the elevator, closed the grille, then the doors and pressed the hidden switch. The car moved upward through the darkness, while Roderick mumbled vague imprecations. The moment that he reached his destination, Roderick hastily opened the door and stepped into The Death Giver’s anteroom.
The black door with its skull and crossbones raised no terrors in Roderick’s mind. The portal lifted, and Roderick went through. The panel across the room had been raised; Thade, The Death Giver, was quietly seated in his chair.
There was no formality in Roderick’s approach. He was coming here to report a defeat — a strange chain of circumstances that had thwarted The Death Giver’s plans. Thade’s greenish, glaring face showed a scowl as the man’s eyes noted Roderick’s concern.
“What is the matter?” Thade’s demanding voice sounded before Roderick could speak.
The clubman stopped short and began his story.
“Everything is the matter!” he declared. “Our plans against Langhorne have been ruined! Langhorne is dead; Jarvis is dead!”
“You erred in following my plans?” questioned Thade, in a harsh, irritating tone.
“Not one bit!” asserted Roderick. “On the contrary, all went according to instructions. Treffin did his part perfectly. Langhorne was unquestionably cowed; ready to consider terms. Jarvis was in readiness. But some one intervened.”
“The police?”
“No. The Shadow!”
Roderick’s tone was positive. Thade’s response was a cackling chuckle that came in harsh defiance.
“The Shadow!” Thade’s tone was filled with irony. “The Shadow! What can he do to harm me? I am greater than The Shadow! I am Thade, The Death Giver!
“You say that Langhorne and Jarvis are dead. Very well. Thade has dealt death. That is success. I have struck. I, Thade, The Death Giver.”
Roderick shook his head. Something in his manner compelled Thade to listen. The clubman began his story.
HE told how he had received the unexpected call from Irwin Langhorne; how he had found the millionaire in hiding. He told of the call to Langhorne’s home; the report that Jarvis had been killed by the falling chandelier.
Then came Roderick’s description of his battle with Langhorne; how he had been forced to slay the millionaire at the Bastion Hotel. Amid these details, Roderick inserted the few facts that he had gained concerning a mysterious personage in black who had gone as Irwin Langhorne to the millionaire’s home.
“That person was The Shadow,” declared Roderick. “I left Langhorne dying at the hotel; and I know positively that The Shadow was due to return. That is why I left my car in a garage and came directly here.”
“Because you fear The Shadow?” queried Thade, in a cold tone.
“Because I know his ability,” answered Roderick. “Given a single clew, The Shadow will follow it. He traced Vernon Quinley; he uncovered Barcomb. He linked Bellew’s death with the killings on the trains at Felswood. Those trails ended.
“But now he has performed new wonders. He learned that we were after Langhorne — how, I cannot understand. He would have saved Langhorne, but for the man’s own folly.
“Jarvis is dead; Langhorne is dead; but I still live. I am the one whom The Shadow will trail. That is why I have given him no opportunity. He can never know that I am here. He will watch the Merrimac Club; he will try to locate me at my apartment. But I do not intend to return to either of those places.”
Thade’s face was glistening with an evil light. The Death Giver understood the truth of Roderick’s words.
The power of The Shadow did not nonplus the evil genius. Instead, it keyed Thade to a new challenge.
The Death Giver had met an adversary worthy of his steel.
While Paul Roderick awaited Thade’s reply, The Death Giver’s greenish face became a fearful sight.
Lips, eyes, and forehead — all writhed in furious malice. The Shadow had tampered with Thade’s schemes of death. That would bring reprisal!
“The Shadow!” Thade was scornful. “He thinks that he can thwart me. He will be a menace — yes. But only so long as my schemes are small. The time has come to strike terror that will sweep the country!
“I shall deliver a stroke that will frighten them all! The time has come for my master coup. After that, Roderick, you can roam at large. The terror spread by Thade will be everywhere. You can pluck one million; then another. Wealth will come like fruit from a flourishing tree. New York will be the scene of this tremendous crime. The crime will appall. It will baffle. It will be gigantic!”
Roderick was dumfounded. He waited for Thade to go on. The Death Giver was no madman. When he planned, his measures invariably were sound.
PAUL RODERICK stared at the fiend in the chair. He let his eyes roam to the stolid Nubians who obeyed Thade’s wishes. He listened for the words that were to come.
“Assassination!” hissed Thade. “That is my plan now, Roderick! The opportunity is here. Two days from now.”
“You mean on Broadway—”
Roderick blurted the words when The Death Giver paused. The response was a glittering of Thade’s fanglike teeth. Roderick had guessed the mighty coup which Thade was now considering.
“Yes,” declared The Death Giver. “This time there will be no warning. Thade shall strike! Death — unknown and unforeseen — shall descend upon those who do not expect it. Death that will strike terror everywhere. Mysterious death, its origin unknown.
“To-night, Roderick, you have killed for me. Hence I depute you to deliver the mighty death which I, Thade, alone can hurl. You, Roderick, and one other will be needed. But after the stroke is made, the other will not be required. His death will be advisable.”
Roderick smiled grimly. He realized that his unique status as Thade’s roving agent was a sure protection.
Other minions of The Death Giver could be disposed of, rewarded only by quick death. But Paul Roderick would live, to share the monster’s gains.
“There is only one man,” stated Roderick, “who is now available to act— unless I find a new subordinate. That man is Harlan Treffin.”