“Why?” asked Kermal.
“Because of what the voice had said,” replied Daggart. “I reminded Croy; he agreed when I mentioned the voice. We waited there in the room, with our guns ready.”
“There was some sort of sound we heard,” completed Croy. “Like a laugh — before the shots. The same laugh that we heard when you and the others had come to join us.”
“Did it remind you of the voice?” demanded Kermal.
Croy nodded.
“That tells the story, sir,” completed Daggart. “We heard nothing more until someone unlocked the door. The voice had said some enemy was coming. We were ready; we knew Rufus Dolthan from your description of him.”
“You finished him, Daggart,” commended Kermal. “You deserve great credit.”
“Frankly, sir,” declared Daggart, “it — it was that voice that gave me the nerve I needed. Somehow, I — well, if I hadn’t dropped Rufus Dolthan, I’d have had the voice to settle with. That was what was in my mind, sir, from the moment that I saw the villain.”
Kermal’s face was sober as he clapped his secretary on the right shoulder. The lawyer realized that some strange influence had predominated this house tonight.
He was recalling facts that he could not explain; other facts than these that Daggart and Croy had related. Kermal began to speak again concerning Myra, when Goodling held up his hand for silence.
From outside came the throb of motors. Goodling sprang to the window and drew aside the heavy curtains. Half a dozen cars were rolling into the driveway. Goodling saw figures alighting; men dashing toward the porch. The summoned deputies had arrived.
GOODLING hurried out into the hallway on the right. He descended the stairs as he heard pounding on the door. He opened the barrier to admit a surge of deputies, Carter in the lead.
Goodling detailed briefly what had happened as he led the way upstairs. Carter and the others stared at sight of the crooks who lay in the living room.
Then the deputy remembered a message. He drew Goodling aside and spoke in confidential tone. The prosecutor’s eyes opened.
“Those reporter fellows,” informed Carter. “Burke and Vincent. They’re in the lobby down at the hotel. Spoke to me when we pulled into town. Said to get down there as soon as possible, with everybody concerned.”
Goodling nodded. Leaving Carter in charge, he ordered the others to join him in a quick trip to town. Lanford, Kermal and Croy accompanied the prosecutor in his car, while Daggart came along with Doctor Claig, in the physician’s coupe. The two cars made the trip to Sheffield in a dozen minutes. Goodling was the first to reach the hotel lobby. There he found Clyde and Harry waiting.
“Carter says you have news for us,” stated Goodling, anxiously. “What is it? Something important?”
“I’ll say it is,” replied Clyde. “Hurry up to Rufus Dolthan’s living room. There’s someone up there.”
“Myra Dolthan?”
Clyde nodded.
CHAPTER XXII
THE SHADOW DEPARTS
THEY found Myra Dolthan in the big room of her dead uncle’s suite. Garbed in her traveling attire, the girl was reading a book when the arrivals entered. Myra had heard nothing about the fray at Doctor Claig’s. She looked up in surprise when she saw the anxious faces.
Spying Taussig Kermal, Myra arose with a smile. She extended her hand to the lawyer. Kermal received the girl’s clasp. Relief showed on his heavy features. He wondered for a moment at the enthusiasm of the girl’s greeting; then Myra explained.
“I did not fully trust you, Mr. Kermal,” said the girl. “I am sorry. I was wrong. You are my truest friend. That is, unless—”
She paused soberly; then added:
“Unless I place one friend before you. One whose face I have never seen; one whose voice is weird and mysterious, whose words carry absolute conviction. One who must be believed and cannot be disobeyed.”
“The voice!” exclaimed Daggart, looking toward Croy. “The voice we heard tonight!”
“Tell us everything, Myra,” urged Kermal. “We must learn all that we can about this amazing being who rescued us.”
“Who rescued you as well as me?” queried Myra, in surprise.
“Yes,” replied Kermal. “I shall explain that later. Go on, Myra.”
“Two nights ago,” stated the girl, “after you had let Mr. Lanford question me, I felt grave concern. I wondered about everything, Mr. Kermal. Particularly about your accusations of my uncle.”
Doctor Claig nodded wisely.
“Later,” continued Myra, “there was a knock at my door. I thought it was Daggart. Instead, it was a tall stranger in black. His eyes were like living fire; his voice an uncanny whisper.”
Daggart and Croy looked at each other and nodded their corroboration of the voice.
“This visitor,” resumed Myra, “seemed more than human. He was a most amazing being; his cloak, his hat, made him seem a solid shadow come to life. Yet his tones were calming. He was as gentle as he was fearful.
“He promised me protection. I gave him the diary that I had kept. When he left, he vanished so amazingly that I thought almost that he had been unreal. But later, he cut the bars outside of my window. After that, I saw a glimmering light from the second floor of the garage. His promised signal. From then on, I had no fear.”
THERE was a calmness to the girl’s story. Every word had the ring of fact. None who listened doubted. Clyde Burke and Harry Vincent were agents of The Shadow; the others had heard his laugh upon this very night.
“At about eleven o’clock tonight,” declared Myra, “or a little later, perhaps, I heard four taps upon the shutters of my window. That was his signal. Strange taps — almost as though they were in the room.”
Again Daggart and Croy were impressed with recollections. They, like Myra, recalled The Shadow’s signal.
“I opened the shutters,” declared the girl. “I saw those glowing, living eyes in blackness. That whispered voice spoke again. The figure moved downward; I followed, by a ladder that was resting against the wall.
“It was black about the house. The ladder was white. It seemed to move beside me as the voice gave instructions. Stretched level with the ground, that ladder; carried by a figure that I could not see beside me.
“We passed the garage; there my conductor placed the ladder against the wall. The voice still spoke, moving onward, commanding me to follow. It was like a dream, my eyes unseeing. A gloved hand held my arm, guiding me; the whispered tones gave truthful utterance.
“My invisible friend was telling me of danger. My uncle was coming to Doctor Claig’s. Mr. Kermal had been right when he had told me of my uncle’s plotting. I was to meet others who would take me to safety when I told them who I was. Then suddenly, I realized that I was walking alone.
“For the moment, I was terrified; I stumbled as I continued along the slope. A flashlight appeared in front of me; I was at the edge of a road. Two men were there; they questioned me. They were Mr. Burke and Mr. Vincent. They introduced themselves when I told them who I was. They brought me here in their car.”
“Where did you find Miss Dolthan?” questioned Goodling, turning to Clyde and Harry.
“On the back road,” replied Clyde. “We drove up there to watch the house while you went in with Parrell. While we were waiting around, we heard someone coming our way. It turned out to be Miss Dolthan. We knew town was the safest place for her.”
“You were right,” agreed Goodling, grimly. “We’ve a lot to thank you for, Burke. You too, Vincent.”
“Rufus Dolthan turned phony?” questioned Clyde. “These chaps” — he indicated Kermal, Croy and Daggart — “look a lot like the ones you were looking for.”