what Bugs was going to do next.
'Why don't you give the guy a break?' demanded Bugs. 'His overcoat was out
in the cloakroom; maybe somebody planted the rod in his pocket. Go on out there,
Quaine, and ask the cloakroom doll about it.'
Slick agreed that he would do so. He started to pick up the planted gun, remarking that it was evidence.
'Leave it here,' suggested Bugs. 'Let Ondrey lock it in that desk drawer.
We'll look out for Parrington while you're gone.'
THE REVOLVER was put away; Slick left the office but he didn't go to the cloakroom, because that would be of no use. Slick knew well enough how the gun had come into Parrington's pocket.
What Slick didn't know was what he escaped by staying away from the cloakroom. At that very moment; a young man was checking hat and coat there.
He
was Harry Vincent, one of the keenest of The Shadow's agents.
If Harry had seen Slick come to the cloakroom, he would have promptly sensed that something was up. But Slick didn't even leave the passage outside of Ondrey's office.
Meanwhile, in the office itself, Claude Ondrey was sweating more than ever. Of all the screwy games he'd ever met with, this one was the worst. What did Bugs mean by passing the buck right back to him? Of course, Slick wouldn't come back with evidence that Ondrey had planted the gun; but Ondrey was beginning to believe that Bugs might be crazy enough to shout that out, himself.
Maybe Bugs was really as goofy as he sometimes looked.
In the midst of Ondrey's quandary, Bugs suddenly provided the reason behind his stunt.
'Listen Parrington,' spoke Bugs quickly. 'I'm for you - see? I got a way to snatch you out of this mess. Ondrey, here, is a good guy. He'll help.'
Parrington looked up, weakly hopeful.
'Unlock the desk drawer,' Bugs told Ondrey. 'Make it fast, before Quaine gets back here.'
Ondrey obeyed. He was in a mood for anything that would end this crazy set-up. As soon as the drawer was open, Bugs grabbed the revolver that lay within. Pocketing it, he picked up Parrington's five thousand dollars and planked the money in the drawer.
'Quaine won't find the gun when he looks for it,' stated Bugs, with a grin. 'He'll find the dough, instead. I'll look dumb, and so will Ondrey, here.
How about it, Ondrey?'
Ondrey nodded. He didn't like the looks of things, but he couldn't find his voice.
'So Quaine will forget the gun,' added Bugs, 'and take the mazuma instead.
That's fair enough, ain't it? You can make up that five grand easy, Roy, but you
can't laugh off a stretch in the big house.'
Parrington's eyes narrowed. He was becoming suspicious; but he was still worried enough so to be handled. Bugs nudged to the wall panel.
'Bring down the elevator,' ordered Ondrey. 'Get Roy out of here before Quaine comes back.'
ONDREY obeyed reluctantly. Bugs told Parrington how to make his exit through the house next door. Sight of the open elevator made Parrington suddenly eager for flight. Half a minute later, he was on his way.
Bugs gave a raucous chuckle after the panel had closed; but Ondrey didn't join with him.
The harsh mirth was heard by Slick, in the passage. Slick came back into the office, looked about, perplexed, when he failed to see Parrington. Bugs yanked open the desk drawer, told Slick to take a look.
'How's that for a neat shakedown, Slick?' he asked. 'Say - you should have
seen the sap fall for the finish of it!' Then, to Ondrey, Bugs added:
'Stick that five grand in the safe, along with the dough you're keeping for Pinkey. It's five thousand more in the pot.'
There was an incredulous snarl from Slick.
'So that was your racket!' uttered Slick. 'You're not smart, Bugs; you're dumb!'
'Me dumb?' rejoined Bugs. 'When I picked up five grand that easy?'
'I said you're dumb,' repeated Slick. 'You've wasted time here, when you're supposed to head for Bron's office. What about that letter you were to get from Parrington?'
With a grin, Bugs pulled the letter from his pocket.
'Right here,' he said. 'I'm starting for Bron's now. Give me fifteen minutes start, Slick, and you'll get there just when you'll be needed.'
Bugs pulled the switch to bring down the elevator. The letter was the last
thing the two saw, when the panel went shut.
Ondrey flopped behind the desk, mopping his bald head.
'Bugs had me nuts!' he panted. 'I'm glad that's over.'
Slick Thurley didn't reply. His eyes had a hard gaze; his lips were set.
He was thinking that Bugs Hopton had tossed a boomerang by trying that shake-down on Roy Parrington.
Slick's hunch was right. Matters were to take a trend that crooks wouldn't
like. But there was one element that Slick didn't include in his calculation; that was the part that chance was to play.
Lady Luck was already riding along with crime.
CHAPTER XII
CHANGED TRAILS
THE SHADOW'S first inkling that something had gone wrong came when the lights went blank in Bron's office. That was curious, since Bron was supposed to be here until midnight. It couldn't mean that plotters were on the move, because there was only one entrance to the office building and Bugs Hopton hadn't arrived to use it. Furthermore, another incident furnished The Shadow with proof that crime's plans had been balked. Half a minute after Bron's lights were out, the side office went dark. Pinkey Findlen had evidently learned that Bron had gone out of the building.
Very soon, a man came from the front of the building. He was tall; his long legs made awkward strides toward the corner. The Shadow caught a glimpse of a tight-skinned face beneath a derby hat. Those features answered the slight
description that The Shadow had gained concerning Lewis Bron. Wherever Bron was
going, he was in a hurry, for The Shadow saw him hail a cab. Blinking a flashlight toward the next corner, The Shadow waited until his own cab came along. Boarding it, he took up Bron's trail.
Turning the corner, The Shadow looked back. He saw Pinkey come out of the office building. There wasn't another cab in sight. That left the big-shot stranded. The fact pleased The Shadow; but it was to prove another of the grim jests that fate was supplying tonight.
Unsuspecting that The Shadow was on Bron's trail, Pinkey strode away in the opposite direction, and reached a subway station. Huddled in the corner of a half-filled car, he rode a few stations northward, muttering all the while.
It didn't take him long to arrive at the house adjoining the Bubble Club.
The elevator was on the top floor when Pinkey reached there. He stepped into the car; before he had time to push the button, someone pulled the switch at the bottom of the shaft. When the car reached the ground floor, Pinkey came face to face with Slick Thurley.
For once, amazement showed on the features of the fake Bill Quaine. Slick couldn't figure what had brought the big-shot here, until Pinkey broke the news
that Lewis Bron had made an unexpected exit from his office.
'We should have met earlier,' rasped Pinky. 'I didn't have a chance to tail the guy. Where he's gone, I can't even guess. But it looks like the deal is off for tonight; and that' - Pinkey's lower lip thrust forward - 'may ruin the works tomorrow.'
Claude Ondrey, seated behind his desk, put in a sudden theory regarding Bron.
'Maybe Parrington called him!' exclaimed Ondrey. 'And if Parrington squawked -'
Ondrey caught himself. He didn't know just how to break the news to Pinkey.
