be none other than the murderer.
The men on the steps sheepishly gave their story. Sweeping like an avalanche from above, the man had
dashed upon them from a corner of the stairway. They had fired in hope of hitting him, but had been
unable to stop his savage attack.
In all his experience with killers, Cardona had never encountered a man who had exhibited such
successful daring. He had smashed his way through a cordon of police without firing a single shot. The
only hope of capturing him now lay in the vigilance of those who had traveled in pursuit.
The detective was disgruntled as he reached the floor upon which the death apartment was located. He
was positive that the murderer had been within his clutches, only to elude him by a mad dash for safety.
Blocks away, a trim coupe was whirling through traffic. Behind it came a siren-blowing car, with police
hanging from the running board. The distance was too great for revolver fire.
The coupe suddenly turned a corner. The police car reached the spot and swung after it. Down a narrow
street the pursuers whirled; then swung left at a dead end.
Hardly had the tail light disappeared before the coupe backed out from a narrow alley that ran between
two high walls. Its lights had been turned out; now they came on and the coupe headed back the way it
had come.
The man at the wheel was invisible in the darkness of the car. As he drove leisurely along, he laughed
softly and his mocking tones awoke strange echoes. The Shadow had eluded his pursuers. He was
bound on new adventure.
To-night, The Shadow had accomplished much since his arrival and departure from the apartment of
John Hendrix. He had learned facts from the dying lips of Martin Powell. He had taken away documents
that linked Alvarez Legira with John Hendrix. He had created the impression that the murderer was still
on the premises when the police had arrived.
What was the purpose of these actions? Was The Shadow protecting the man who had done the triple
killing or was he subtly thwarting some scheme of evil? Had he, by his uncanny intuition, already
discovered the identity of the murderer?
Only one man in all the world could have answered those questions. That man was The Shadow himself.
Cross-purposes had caused the death of three men. Crime was rampant, and to-night marked but the
beginning of a series of evil deeds. Wealth and lives were at stake. Schemes were veiled by secrecy.
What the future held was something that only The Shadow knew.
The Shadow alone could avenge these deaths and prevent the dire results which crafty minds had
planned!
CHAPTER XIV. LEGIRA PROCEEDS
“MR. LEGIRA to see you, sir.”
The speaker was a watchman at the Baltham Trust Company.
Roger Cody, the quiet-faced representative of John Hendrix, nodded and told the watchman to bring the
visitor into the office. Cody sat back quietly in his chair and waited for Legira to appear.
The suave South American entered and bowed, smilingly. Behind him was the stalwart form of his
manservant, Francisco.
Legira took a chair at Cody's invitation and Francisco stood silently in the corner of the little office.
Cody and Legira had met before, so that introductions were unnecessary. To Cody, this evening's
