'Go upstairs to my office,' suggested Professor Urlich. 'You will find a railway schedule there. It is not
quite midnight. Find out if a train is still available to-night.'
LARRY RICORDO headed for the spiral stairway. Professor Urlich stood in deep thought. Cliff
Marsland, watching him, saw a shrewd, wicked gleam appear upon the scientist's face. Cliff wondered
what thoughts were passing within that evil brain which evolved its schemes of death.
Larry Ricordo returned. He announced that a Limited was leaving at one o'clock. Professor Folcroft
Urlich nodded.
'Take that train,' he said. 'But be careful. Go by subway to the Grand Central Station. It would be best
to enter the terminal by the Lexington Avenue side.'
'Don't worry about me,' grinned Ricordo. 'That's just the way I will go in; and there's no smart dicks
going to spot me, even if they do have the word out to grab me.'
'We must always consider the element of uncertainty,' responded the scientist. 'It would be unfortunate,
Ricordo, should you fall into the hands of the police.'
'Listen, professor' — Ricordo's tones were harsh—'I pack this gat. See it?' The gang leader produced a
large revolver as he spoke. 'While I'm on the subway, while I'm going into the station, while I'm on the
train — all that time I'll have my mitt on this smoke wagon. If any dumb bull tries to get me, I'll give him the
works.'
'And then — '
'I can duck out plenty quick. I've done it before. Don't forget that.'
'But if you should be outnumbered — surrounded — '
'They'd never get me, professor. I'd shoot my way through them. Even if I did get plugged, I'd keep
blazing. They'll never take Larry Ricordo alive! That's certain.'
There was a positive tone in the ganglord's growl. Professor Folcroft Urlich smiled in a pleased manner.
'Excellent, Ricordo,' he said. 'I feel sure, now, that your departure will be wise. Come. I shall
accompany you downstairs. You have just the right amount of time to reach the Grand Central.'
Leaving Cliff Marsland and Clyde Burke still helpless upon the floor, Urlich went with Ricordo to the
ground floor. Together, the two men circled the outer corridor. Ricordo had little thought of the death
machine tonight. This zone of danger meant nothing when Professor Urlich trod it with him.
After Ricordo had departed, Professor Urlich returned to the laboratory. His first action was to glance at
the row of lights that were placed above the spiral stairway.
Those lights indicated the three zones below: red for the outer portico; green for the inner corridor; white
for the balcony about the pit that housed the grim machine of death.
Those lights corresponded with a similar row upon the machine itself. Connected by wires of low,
harmless amperage, they served as signals. Here, in his laboratory, Professor Urlich could learn the
approach of an intruder in time to reach the powerful electric device that lay below.
The lights were all out, at present; the absence of the red gleam showed that Larry Ricordo had departed
from the portico where Professor Urlich had left him.
The scientist smiled. He emitted a low call. His two solemn-faced assistants, Sanoja and Rasch,
appeared.
The scientist spoke to each man in turn. The assistants nodded and went to appointed tasks. Cliff
watched them. He noticed that one kept his eyes upon the lights, while the other was keeping close tabs
upon Cliff and Clyde.
Professor Urlich stalked across the floor of the laboratory. The room was illuminated only in spots, with
darkness toward the back of the building. Professor Urlich, however, did not again continue toward the
staircase that led downward. Instead, he ascended the spiral to the third floor.
The scientist entered the little office a few moments later. Seated at his desk, he became immersed in
thought. His evil lips began to mutter words that were barely audible.
'The Shadow!' Urlich's murmur was scornful. 'Bah! He has been ended to-night — unless' — the
scientist's shoulders shrugged—'unless— But what of it? I do not fear him. Let him come — he is only
one. But the police — they are many — '
A pause; then Urlich muttered two names, repeating the second one several times:
'Jocelyn — Ricordo — Ricordo — Ricordo — '
FIENDISHLY, the scientist smiled. His evil brain was reverting to the past, to his statements regarding
the uselessness of those who blocked his path. He was considering Larry Ricordo as he had considered
Thomas Jocelyn.
Men of different caliber; yet men who both were pieces in the game that Professor Urlich played. He had
chosen both of them by a process of selection. He had considered a suitable replacement for each,
should occasion demand it.
Professor Urlich was thinking of his own strength; the security which he possessed in this isolated
building. Little of his work was known to the world. If it were, what could matter? Urlich was a scientist;
his laboratory was filled with the beginnings of useful inventions and beneficial experiments — blinds that
would surely cover all devices of death.
Thomas Jocelyn had become a menace, for Jocelyn, his usefulness ended, had known too much. Jocelyn
had been eliminated, serving as a snare of silent death for The Shadow.
Larry Ricordo remained. He, too, was a menace to security, for his usefulness had ended, and he knew
far more than Jocelyn had known.
Professor Urlich had brought Ricordo here only because necessity had compelled it. He had sent the
gang leader away because that had been the only alternative.
But in his shrewd brain — at the time when Cliff Marsland had noted the scientist's expression of
evil — Folcroft Urlich had considered another course.
Those questions to Larry Ricordo had been well designed. The gang lord's replies had sponsored
Urlich's new decision. The scientist picked up the telephone upon his table. He smiled as he realized that
a call from this blind line would be untraceable.
A few minutes later, a voice sounded through the receiver. Professor Folcroft Urlich smiled. He
responded, in a low, steady tone.
'Hello,' he said. 'Detective headquarters?… Very well. I wish to speak with Detective Cardona — '
CHAPTER XIX. ZONES OF DEATH
DARKNESS enshrouded the circular edifice that housed Professor Folcroft Urlich and his devices of
death. Only a slight glow came from the skylights above the circling outside roof of the second-story
laboratory.
None could see into that strange room, whither the scientist had now returned. Even from above, the
frosted windows blocked all prying eyes, should any have existed in the sky above. Huge, bulky barriers,
those skylights were as firm as a solid roof.
The third floor now was dark; and it showed dimly as the top tier of the circular pyramid. There were
windows there: one, in the scientist's office, was the opening through which Larry Ricordo had sometimes
stared at the gloomy mansion which hid the circular structure from the outside world.
A tiny light glimmered amid darkness. It shone within the recesses of the old mansion. Its rays
disappeared. Something swished as an invisible figure crossed the space between the mansion and the
circular building.
