The Shadow 033 The Living Joss by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1933-07-15T21:44:12+00:00

Kwa.

As the hand wrote that name, hidden lips pronounced the single syllable in a mysterious whisper.

“Kwa.”

Since his return to Chinatown, intrigue had begun and crime had followed.

The Shadow had foreseen such events. Well did the master of darkness know the latent power that could be stirred to action within the confines of New York’s Chinatown. Seeking the root of evil, The Shadow had invaded the Chinese quarter to search for the Living Joss. While he had pursued that course, Kwa, still hidden, had stretched forth his hands of evil.

Strange links had come to The Shadow’s notice, but as he listed them, he observed that in this game of crime, coincidence might well have run side by side with evil design.

It was The Shadow’s task to analyze all facts, to join the broken links into a finished chain, neglecting those which were not part of the straight line.

Whispers in Chinatown. An American who understood the language, who had listened to talk of Kwa. A meeting of five men, two of whom were now dead!

In New York, police believed that Westley Hartnett had been slain by a maniac. In New Jersey, State troopers had classed Blaine Goodall as the chance victim of hijacking gangsters. But The Shadow knew the truth.

Westley Hartnett had been murdered by a swift-moving killer, who had worked with expert craftiness.

Agile as a monkey, this slayer had made an immediate escape. The Shadow knew that a creature had come out of Chinatown to commit that crime.

Blaine Goodall had been ambushed by armed fighters. They, however, had not been gangsters. Well did The Shadow know that fact! The headlights of his powerful speedster had shown Chinamen behind those revolvers which had failed against the leaden torrent from his automatics.

A second murderer: one who fought with might instead of stealth. Two minions of Kwa, fiendish foes to society, whose evil careers must be ended. The Shadow had sworn that these fiends would never again strike down a living man!

FIVE names appeared upon a sheet of paper as the hand of The Shadow wrote them there: Westley Hartnett

Blaine Goodall

Barton Schofield

David Moultrie

Ward Zelka

With solemn gesture, The Shadow crossed out the first two on the list. Hartnett and Goodall were dead.

Schofield was the next to be considered.

The yellow face! It had been at Schofield’s last night. Harry Vincent had seen it. He had observed the bounding form that bore the venomous visage. He had watched throughout the night, to make sure that the enemy did not return.

“Kwa!”

Again, the concealed lips of The Shadow repeated that insidious title. Eyes from the dark were glaring toward the table top. The Shadow knew well that some strange stroke was due to fall very soon at Barton Schofield’s home.

Twice had The Shadow sought to thwart the crimes designed by Kwa. Both events had taken place last night; in each case, fate had tricked The Shadow.

A knowing laugh came in shuddering tones. There was one way in which The Shadow could control the course of destiny. That was to

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