outwitted Shark at the game of silent ambush!
THROUGH a window from Henshew's apartment, to one on the floor below, such had been The Shadow's simple effective strategy. Deprived of his protecting crew, Shark Meglo had became The Shadow's prisoner.
Forced to his feet, Shark stood with upraised hands, as The Shadow moved him forward toward the main hallway that fronted on Henshew's apartment. Shark knew what The Shadow intended.
He was going to turn him over to other captors, who would hold him for the law. Shark knew what that would mean. The hot seat!
'I get it,' snarled Shark, without turning his head. 'You're going to hand me over! But what about Henshew -'
Shark heard The Shadow laugh. The yellow murderer chewed his lips. He had blabbed too much.
Maybe The Shadow would have handed him to Henshew! - thought Shark. That would have meant escape. It wouldn't after what Shark had just said.
First at the hallway corner, Shark saw the doorman and some persons who had come from other apartments. They had picked up revolvers in Henshew's apartment. They stared, gaping, at the sight of Shark advancing in surrender; for they did not discern The Shadow, that blackened, avenging form behind the killer.
Men raised their guns, to take over the prisoner. With bleary eyes, Shark saw that Henshew was absent.
That did not matter; Henshew could not help. Things looked bad for Shark Meglo.
They looked bad for Madden Henshew, too.
In his apartment, the crooked gem dealer had waited in the living room alcove. Others had gone outside.
Flattened thugs were listless and disinterested. No one was present to watch Henshew's actions at the bookcase. Greedily, Henshew pulled out volumes and slid up the hidden panel.
This time, it was Henshew's turn to view blankness, where he had expected the glitter of gems. He was seeing the vacancy that The Shadow had previously viewed in this very space. Henshew's hidden baubles were gone.
Crooks had not arrived in time to prevent their removal. The Shadow's battle had been a delayed action; the follow-up of previous operations.
Madden Henshew stared at the rifled nest. Mechanically, he closed the panel and put the books back in place. With gritted teeth, he picked up a revolver that lay upon the floor. Quivering as he moved along, Henshew was gripped by one dominating thought.
The master-crook wanted to meet The Shadow. He was to have that wish much sooner than he expected.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE WRONG HUNT
WHEN Madden Henshew reached the hallway, he stopped there, riveted. His astoundment was greater than a minute ago. It seemed plausible that The Shadow could have taken the hidden gems; but the willing surrender of Shark Meglo was inconceivable.
It was then that Henshew guessed the truth. Some one was standing past Shark, forcing the killer forward. Shark was a prisoner of The Shadow. Henshew's revolver seemed to freeze in his hand. He could not have pulled the trigger if he had tried.
Henshew was as helpless as Shark. With the killer's body as a shield, The Shadow could mow down anyone who started trouble.
At that moment, Henshew felt sure his game was up. The Shadow knew too much. Henshew wanted to dodge back into the apartment. He realized that he could be instantly trapped there. Nothing that Henshew could think up, would serve in this emergency.
Chance provided, where schemes failed.
Before Shark had advanced another reluctant step, there was a clang from the elevator door. Looking straight along the hall, Henshew was facing the elevator. He saw its occupants; The Shadow could not.
The Shadow's back was toward the elevator.
'Get him!' shrieked Henshew, his cry spontaneous. 'Shoot him down! The man in black!'
There were two policemen in the car - beat-pounders that the elevator operator had summoned. They did not recognize The Shadow as someone who sided with the law. They heard Henshew's cry as one of authority. They saw a big gun in The Shadow's fist. The weapon was pressed against the neck of a man whose face they could not spy. They took Shark for a victim, not a killer.
Shark was almost as quick as Henshew, for Shark was speedy when it came to self-preservation. He took a forward pitch to the floor, to get away from The Shadow's aim and give Henshew a chance to fire. It was then that Henshew really saw The Shadow and caught the glint of the master-fighter's burning eyes.
Henshew had the chance he wanted: to shoot it out with The Shadow. Like Shark. Henshew was lucky not to try. He did a dive of his own, back into the apartment.
If The Shadow had been dealing with Henshew and Shark alone, he could have finished the conspirators with ease. There were others, though, with whom The Shadow had no quarrel; and as luck had it, they were allying themselves against him. The bluecoats were leaping from the elevator. The Shadow had to get away from them.
WHEELING, The Shadow met one patrolman and shoved his gun hand upward. The other fired, but his bullet was wild, for he did not want to clip his companion.
The Shadow heaved the first officer toward the second, tangling them for the moment. The move carried him away from the passage to the stairway.
That was unfortunate. Men in the hall were blazing shots. They were springing forward to battle the dim figure that bobbed so swiftly. The elevator man pounced for The Shadow. The fellow went sprawling from a quick thrust; with a sudden turn, The Shadow made for the stairs.
Shouts greeted him. Apartment attendants were arriving, two more officers with them. Again, there was Henshew's shout:
'Get him! The man in black!'
Guns blazed as The Shadow cut through the rear of Henshew's apartment. Men came through to cut him off; The Shadow began to spill them. One was Henshew; The Shadow took a terrific slug at the crook's skull. Another man's arm intervened. Henshew dived away.
Shark was at the doorway. He aimed for The Shadow. Quickly, The Shadow blazed shots at the killer.
Again, grabbing arms spoiled his aim; but Shark did a duck when bullets ripped the door frame beside him. Safe though the fight might be for others, it was bad business for Henshew or Shark to seek battle with The Shadow.
The net result was badly against The Shadow. His pass at Henshew, his shots at Shark, seemed proof that he must be a raiding criminal. Lashing back and forth through Henshew's gloomy dining room, The Shadow was hard pressed by fighters who tried to down him with clubs and guns. Only the press of numbers helped The Shadow; for the amateur brawlers were getting in the way of police guns.
Piling one man upon another, The Shadow suddenly cleared a path; but it led only to the window.
He went through the frame, glass and all, with a crash that seemed to head him for the street below. The Shadow was counting upon an outside cornice that he had used before. He clutched it; swung down and gained a window of the floor below.
Even then, The Shadow's path was not clear. Police had arrived in the rear street; they were piling up into the apartment house.
Shouts were given by pursuers who raced to the floor beneath Henshew's. They saw The Shadow on the stairway, as he came through. Cut off one floor above the street level, The Shadow took to another apartment. He reached a window and crawled along a wider ledge, to reach the corner of the building.
THOUGH The Shadow had chosen the most obscure direction and had slipped completely from sight, he had reached a limit. He could gain nothing by traveling farther, and retreat was hopeless.
Searchers were all along the street. Lights were appearing at windows. Congregating police were scouring all parked cars. They stopped a taxi; its driver backed it into a little passage by the corner of the apartment house.
'Anybody try to get into this cab, bud?'
