There was a file cabinet in the corner. Harry approached it in the dark and opened the
topmost drawer. He removed several files, let their papers scatter; then took another sheaf
and raised it to the top of the cabinet. In three minutes, Harry had given the appearance of a
quarter hour search. He was ready for the finish.
On top of the cabinet was a rack of test tubes, several beakers and a hydrometer jar. The
last named was a tall object, easily toppled. Thrusting a stack of papers along the top of the
cabinet, Harry deliberately knocked over the hydrometer jar, which he could barely see in the
semidarkness. The glass object toppled against the rack of test tubes.
With a final push, Harry sent the jar and the tubes clear of the filing cabinet. The wavering
hydrometer jar took along a beaker; the entire lot went crashing to the stone floor of the
laboratory.
As the crash was sounding, Harry was diving for the window. He sent a chair skidding
against a table; another jar toppled and rolled to the floor. Then Harry was through the
window, heading back across the inner court.
AS he gained his own room, Harry pulled in the grating and lowered the sash. Amid the
clatter of his fake typewriter, he could hear the sounds of scuffling feet from the outer hall.
At the table, Harry never bothered to turn off his machine. He simply yanked the cord from
the floor plug, dropped it in the box and shut the lid. The interruption of the current stopped
the ticks of the fake typewriter.
Next, the door. Harry reached it just in time. He pressed the light switch, turned the knob and
opened the door. Wilkins was already on the threshold, coming to summon him to join the
others. The rest of the men had headed for the lab.
'Come along, Vincent,' ordered Wilkins, in an excited tone. 'We're heading for the lab.'
'What's up?' inquired Harry, as they started along the hall.
'Didn't you hear the glassware smash?' returned Wilkins.
'No,' responded Harry. 'I was typing; then I heard you fellows shouting out here.'
'That's right,' nodded Wilkins. 'You wouldn't have heard the noise from the lab. I remember!
I heard your typewriter clicking away. Before the noise came from the lab—and after that,
too.'
Harry smiled to himself as they reached the door of the laboratory, where the two patrolling
men had used a key to enter. His first task had been accomplished. He had started trouble
here at Cedar Cove.
Yet, with it, he had established a perfect alibi. Wilkins had already put himself on record as a
witness to the fact that Harry had been working when the crash sounded within the
laboratory. The Shadow's plan had worked.
Confident that his own part in the game would never be known, Harry Vincent entered the
laboratory along with Wilkins. There they joined the half dozen men who were already
speculating on what had become of the mysterious intruder.
CHAPTER VIII. THE CONFERENCE
IT did not take long for the warning of a marauder to spread about the headquarters at
Cedar Cove. The alarm was passed to guards outside the buildings. Wilkins ordered a
prompt search of the entire premises.
All the while, the men remained in pairs. Wilkins had a teammate, like the rest, a fellow
named Holgate. The two remained on guard in the laboratory after the others had set out to
look for the intruder. Harry remained with Wilkins and Holgate.
While these three were looking about the laboratory, Commander Joseph Dadren entered.
He had been summoned from the boat house.
The arrival of the skipper brought a prompt report from Wilkins, who accounted for every one
in the place. Holgate seconded all of the statements. Both men mentioned that Harry had
been working on the typewriter.
Pair by pair, searchers and guards returned. All made their reports. No trace had been
found of any intruder. Dadren sent the men back to their posts. Leaving Harry in the
laboratory, he went into the inner office. He returned, wearing a satisfied smile. Harry knew
that he had found the plans still safe.
'Everything is all right, sir?' questioned Harry.
'Yes,' returned Dadren, dryly, 'except for the fact that some one actually broke into the
laboratory. That is serious enough. Don't you think so, Vincent?'
HARRY studied the commander. Dadren was a tall, wiry man, whose weather-scarred face
marked him as a sea dog. Blunt featured, square-jawed, he was a type of person who dealt
in facts. His inventive genius lay chiefly in his ceaseless experimenting and his
perseverance. The commander was a man who seldom deviated from a fixed purpose.
Harry knew that. He realized, also, that he must use tactful methods in suggesting that new
danger might be encountered. Dadren was a fearless man. The simple suggestion that
Dadren should postpone his trip would not go far. Harry used the commander's question as
a wedge of another sort.
'I think it is serious,' agreed Harry. 'Look about, sir, and see for yourself. That fellow must
have been mighty anxious to get in here, the way he chewed up those wires.'
'He blundered, though,' remarked Dadren, looking about the room. 'Knocking over a lot of
glass looks like the work of some ordinary miscreant.'
'I don't agree, sir,' put in Harry. 'I think the man was working in the dark. He may have seen
the light in my room, where I was at the typewriter. He was probably afraid to use a flashlight,
while somebody was about.'
'But why should he have searched the laboratory? If he came here after my plans, he should
have known that they were in the office.'
'I don't think so, sir. This is your private lab. He found papers here. He would have been a
fool not to inspect them first. He probably used a flashlight for that, keeping it well guarded.'
'But what about the filing cabinet?'
'He made a natural mistake there. Opening the drawer without the light, he may have set
some papers on top in a perfectly off-hand manner. That could have started the crash.'
The commander nodded. He was half convinced. Harry put in another thrust.
'The fellow's get-away,' he said, 'is proof that he was no apprentice. He made his way out
of the court, even while the alarm was on.'
'That is true,' nodded Dadren. 'He came in, too, while the place was guarded. Over the roof
was the only way.'
'Unless he started from the inside,' suggested Harry.
The commander stared steadily at his secretary. Harry met the gaze unflinchingly. He saw a
troubled look cloud Dadren's face.
'I take it, Vincent,' he said, dryly, 'that we have a spy in our midst.'
'Maybe two, sir.'
'Two?'
'Yes. The men are paired.'
'I see'—Dadren was nodding slowly—'yes, Vincent, your point is well chosen. At the same
time, I doubt it. I took great care in teaming up my men. I doubt that any one man could
induce another to act as his accomplice.'
THERE was a pause. Harry saw Dadren look to the door of the inner office. The
commander had locked it after coming out. Harry saw a new chance to talk.
'I mentioned a possibility, sir,' he said. 'I do not think it would be wise to ignore it. You can
