Cardona pulled a copy of the morning newspaper from his pocket and spread it before Doctor Zerndorff.
Great headlines told of the roundup of the bombers. Police, aided by government agents, had delved to the depths of the mysterious explosions.
'Tell me about it,' said Zerndorff quietly. 'I should rather hear than read of it.'
'Well, you had the right dope, professor,' said Cardona. 'But we got a great break last night. You remember, I had a clue on the bombing at Grand Central Station? Big packages had been delivered there.
'Well, the bomb went in; it was in a box, and we found out who delivered it. An Italian named Bonzetti, on the East Side. He was working on the truck that delivered cigars.
'He would have got away with it, but there was a mix-up on a couple of big packages. The one intended for the Grand Central cigar store came back to the factory. He didn't know it.
'One of my men pinched him on suspicion yesterday evening. We gave him the third degree last night. He told us plenty.'
'Just how much did he tell you?'
'Well, he admitted taking in the package, and after that it was easier. We made him spill some information we wanted and we landed two others of his kind - an Italian named Arno, and a Russian who calls himself Nick Michaels. His right name is Maklakov.'
'Ah!' exclaimed Zerndorff. 'He is linked with Pecherkin, yes?'
'Exactly! We grilled him and he came through with that information.
'We've got evidence now! More than that, we've pinched Sforza and Pecherkin - or Peterson, as he insists on calling himself.'
'Have they talked?'
'Not yet.'
'They would have - if they were in Italy or in Russia. It is too easy here.' Doctor Zerndorff's face took on a sudden sternness. 'But it will not be difficult! How is the evidence which you have found?'
'Well, we've got it on Bonzetti, right enough. He appears to have framed the whole thing. But he only planted one bomb.
'We figure that Arno placed the one in Wall Street. He looked a lot like a fellow who was seen down there early yesterday morning. He's shifty when he talks, but we're getting it out of him.
'We've also got him tied up with the bomb at Columbus Circle, and the one in the office in the Financial Building. He must have had keys to the office of Barr Childs. Where he got them, we don't know.
'But here's the Nick Michaels angle. He was seen around the Classic yesterday afternoon. We've been getting a real line on him.
'How do you think that bomb went up to Raynor's office?'
'How?'
'In a package of newspapers!
'Raynor had two hundred of each edition brought up to him each day when big stories were breaking.
We figure that Michaels planted a phony stack of newspapers, with the bomb in them. Then he ditched the regular stack. They were so busy around there that they thought he was just one of the workmen, didn't pay any attention to him.
'You see, the fellow that took up the stack to Raynor's office remembers this guy Michaels watching him.
We pinched Michaels last of all. We had a hunch that he had planted the Classic bomb, because we had been accounting for the others.
'We rounded up the heads of different departments at the Classic and got the right guy to identify Michaels.'
'That is very good!' declared Doctor Zerndorff. 'But tell me this. Have you found any word that brings in these two men who are the ones behind it. These men - Sforza and Pecherkin?'
'No, we haven't,' returned Cardona uneasily. 'That's the big trouble. We've linked Michaels with them.
Very strongly. We're getting evidence to tie up Bonzetti and Arno.
'But we can't get an admission from any of the three that Sforza and Pecherkin had anything to do with it!'
'How do those three defend themselves? You say they have admitted what they have done, yes?'
'Yes and no. Bonzetti says he delivered cigars. He admits he took in the wrong package. He said he was told to do so.
'Arno admits being around Wall Street, Columbus Circle, and the Financial Building, but he doesn't remember anything he did there.
'Michaels admits he was at the Classic office. Says he was looking for a job. He asked for one - that's certain.'
'Did you ask them who sent them there?'
'Yes. That's the strange part about it, professor. They say that someone ordered them - but they do not know who it was!
'They declare that neither Sforza nor Pecherkin gave them orders. Bonzetti - he's weakened most because we've had him longest - he let something slip, the word maestro, which means master.
'We've quizzed all of them along that line, and it looks like we may get somewhere with it. Either one of two things is certain - they are pulling a wonderful stall to save Sforza and Pecherkin, or else there is some mystery man mixed up in it - someone they don't know, but someone whom they obey!'
'That seems what you may call foolish!'
'I don't know about that, professor.'
'What!' Doctor Zerndorff's voice indicated great surprise. 'You would believe that there is one that they would call as master - one person that they would not know, and yet would do as he would say?'
Cardona paced back and forth across the room. He rubbed his chin speculatively, as though seeking a reply to Doctor Zerndorff's question. Then he turned and looked directly at the criminologist.
'I have heard of something as strange as that!' he said. 'Yes, professor, right here in New York!
'You and I think in very practical terms. You have dealt with bombers - with men that hide and work like snakes in the grass. I have dealt with gunmen, who shoot in the open - anywhere.
'But I have encountered a man who is a master! No one knows who he is. Yet I have seen gangsters who have become like frightened children at the mere mention of his name!'
'Ah!' exclaimed Doctor Zerndorff. 'And who is this so wonderful person?'
'They call him The Shadow!'
'The Shadow?'
'Yes!'
'What does he do? Is he one criminal like the rest? Could it be that he is the one of which they may speak?'
'No,' said Cardona thoughtfully. 'He is not a criminal - nor is he a detective. That is, so far as I know.
He may be one or the other. In fact, you can't really tell what he may be.
'He strikes in the dark. He has his agents, but we have never discovered them. He has been at war with crooks, and at certain times, they have fallen into our hands through his efforts. At the same time, he will not hesitate to battle with police and detectives if they interfere with his plan!'
'Why is he called 'The Shadow?''
'Because that is what he is - The Shadow! He moves in the dark. He disappears like a will-o'-the-wisp.
His voice has been heard - over the radio. He has broadcast once a week over a national hookup.'
'And yet you do not know what man he is?'
'How could we tell? We have wanted him at times; but have always found that we have been mistaken.
We have never been able to identify him enough to warrant an investigation.
'Some people have called him a myth - yet I know that he exists.'
'You have seen him?'
'Yes! Always clad in a cloak of black, with his face hidden beneath the brim of a huge, turned-down hat.
Then he disappears.
