The Robot Master by Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson

Author:Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson [Grant, Maxwell & Gibson, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1943-05-20T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI. DEEDS IN THE DARK

COOLLY, Fred Corbin drew out the tools he wanted and began work on the door of the music parlor. For anyone with his mechanical knowledge, the door lock was easy. Yet Fred regarded it as the most ticklish part of his procedure.

While his hands worked, his eyes were peering over his shoulder, toward the stairs and off through the hall. The more Fred argued that he would hear footsteps if anyone came, the more he feared he wouldn't. At least he wasn't making any noise with the tools, but that indicated that he wasn't getting anywhere with his task. To help things, Fred turned the knob, intending to wedge a strip of metal between the latch and the socket, so that the door would yield the moment he unlocked it.

To Fred's surprise, the door gave. Either Durand had failed to lock it, or Fred's brief work with the tools had done the trick. Fortunately, the hallway was dark outside the music parlor, and the door didn't creak. So Fred felt safer as he moved into the room.

As he pushed the door shut, Fred looked toward the old safe. He could see it plainly by the moonlight that came through a narrow window set with bars. At first, Fred thought that the blackness which wavered across the safe came from shifting tree boughs, outside the window. Then, a dull click told him otherwise.

In the brief time that Fred had been in the workshop, someone else had entered the music room. That was why the door had been unlocked.

And now the intruder who had preceded Fred was a jump ahead on Fred's own contemplated task. That blackness at the safe front was a human figure, busily picking the old lock.

As Fred watched, the safe came open. A tiny flashlight glittered, showing the interior. From his angle, Fred could see the thing that the gleam disclosed. It was the precious control box that Professor Durand carried every time he sent his robot into action!

A gloved hand reached forward. As it did, the black-clad figure shifted. By the moonlight, Fred saw a cloaked outline and realized who the intruder must be.

The Shadow!

In one sudden surge, Fred's chaotic thoughts swung into line. It amazed him how thoroughly he saw things. The Shadow himself was the whole answer to the riddle. He was the person who sought the secret of Durand's robot. Knowing that Moyne was also in the field, The Shadow was playing one against the other to his own advantage!

As for Cranston, The Shadow's friend, he fitted Fred's impeachment. He was the man who could most readily have made that mystery telephone call to which Fred had been forced to listen. Or it might be that Cranston had simply acted as a go-between, by notifying The Shadow that Fred had been thrust into the booth, ready to receive the call.

Unless Cranston was The Shadow!

That thought inspired Fred. It changed The Shadow from a superbeing into something humanly vulnerable. Picturing The Shadow as Cranston masquerading in a cloak, Fred was spurred into action.

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