Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 324 by Maxwel l Grant

Author:Maxwel,l Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

CHAPTER XIII. TRAILS CROSS AGAIN

A blue light was glowing in a strange, black-walled room where silence lay absolute. That glow was reflected on the surface of a polished table, where long, thin hands moved in from the surrounding blackness, like detached creatures operating on their own. From the third finger of the left-hand gleamed a jewel that fluctuated in the light, its rays running the gamut of the spectrum, from deep maroon to vivid purple, with all the hues between; at moments, its color blazed like a living flame.

That gem was The Shadow's girasol, a rare fire-opal that betokened his own mysterious ways. It always displayed its fiery sparkle when The Shadow was working in the blue light of his sanctum.

On the table lay reports which The Shadow consulted while his hand made notations in blue ink, which faded mysteriously, soon after the ink had dried. That was the way with The Shadow's thoughts; he expressed them as tangible things, then absorbed them, as needed. They then remained in The Shadow's memory alone.

The Shadow's hand inscribed two blue-inked words: The Voice. It wasn't the first time that he had written that title; he frequently kept coming back to it. Through Margo Lane, The Shadow had gained his knowledge of a mysterious, mechanical Voice that ruled over crime. Around the name, The Shadow inscribed a blue circle. It should have been in black for it represented the Black Circle, the inner group that served the Voice. As yet, however, The Shadow had never seen the black-banded token that gave the group its name. Nevertheless, The Shadow had gathered how it functioned.

Beside the circle, The Shadow inscribed names. The first was Kay Kelmore and through it, The Shadow drew a line. Next he wrote Celeste Rochelle, beneath it, the name Fortuna. Important names, though they offered no trail. One represented Mrs. Worthingham's vanished maid, the other was a name that the Voice had spoken to Margo Lane. Briefly, The Shadow delved among reports upon the table; then, to the list of names he added another: Randy Royce.

Here was a strike, indeed. Randy had accompanied Mrs. Worthingham to the ball but he had left suddenly, even though slated as one of the judges who were to award the costume prizes. Exactly when Randy had left, The Shadow wasn't certain, but it was probably coincident with the phone call from the Worthingham home, the one that Quentin Langley claimed he hadn't answered. According to society news, Randy Royce had gone to Florida, to join a yachting cruise to the Caribbean, but there was no proof that he had done so.

As the other names faded, The Shadow underscored Randy's with a series of lines. Those stood for other members of the inner circle that the Voice controlled. The problem now was to uncover more like Randy, such as the men who had roamed the Village and battled The Shadow there, or the pair who had come to carry Margo away from Mrs. Worthingham's. The same

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