The Shadow 061 Spoils of the Shadow by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1934-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

All had been set for an easy victory on the part of The Shadow and his agent. Quick shots by The Shadow and Cliff would have prevented any attack upon Bexler and his guests. Yet The Shadow, still passive, had preferred to continue his waiting game. He had brought along his automatics only for emergency.

Two cars were easing away from beyond the hedge as The Shadow reached the lawn. He retraced his way to the limousine. He opened the door softly and deposited black garments in the bag. The automatics followed. Stanley, half-asleep behind the wheel, did not hear the door open; nor did he hear it close.

IN the side room of his house, Hubert Bexler was talking to three other men when the door bell rang. A servant went to answer it. The lone menial returned, ushering in Lamont Cranston. Hubert Bexler advanced to receive his guest.

“Well, well!” exclaimed the gray-haired collector. “I am pleased to see you, Cranston. You promised to drop in on me some time -“

“I was driving by,” interposed Cranston. “Just thought that I might find you still up at this late hour.”

“Meet my friends,” said Bexler. “Business associates from Chicago. They are the cause for my absence from Gault’s this evening. I suppose you were there, Cranston?”

“No,” responded the new guest. “I had business here on Long Island.”

Cranston shook hands with Bexler’s friends, while the gray-haired collector introduced them by name. Then came another ring at the door. The servant answered it; he returned to announce that Detective Cardona had arrived.

“That’s right!” recalled Bexler. “Show him in, Cuthbert. I was telling you gentlemen about this man from headquarters”—Bexler turned to the men from Chicago—”and I mentioned that he might be here this evening to look at my vault. Ah! Here he is.”

Joe Cardona had entered. Bexler stepped forward to meet him. As he shook hands with Bexler, Cardona nodded to Cranston. The detective’s face wore a serious expression that Bexler did not notice.

“I decided you were not coming,” declared the gray-haired man. “After all, I can depend upon my vault. I think that you will agree with me that it is quite secure.”

“Not after what happened to-night, Mr. Bexler,” returned Cardona, seriously. “The crooks have struck again.”

“What!”

“I have just come from Gault’s. His jeweled Buddha has been stolen.”

“The Buddha from the old temple in Yamagata! Impossible! Gault had it in a vault as strong as mine!”

“He took it out of the vault. He showed it to a party of guests in a paneled room. The Buddha was stolen from there.”

“With the guests present?”

“Yes. But the room was dark. I can give you the details later. Right now, I’m thinking about your possessions, Mr. Bexler. Is that throne of yours safe?”

“Certainly. It’s in the vault, upstairs.”

“I’d like to look at it. We are dealing with some mighty smart crooks, Mr. Bexler. That’s why I came out here. I couldn’t trace Gault’s Buddha. I decided to make sure that your throne was protected.”

“Come upstairs. All of you”—Bexler turned to the others—”and see my vault.

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