The Shadow - 195 - The Spy Ring by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1940-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

Only once did Velma lose her alluring smile—when an attendant came to tell Cranston that he was wanted on the telephone. The Shadow excused himself and left; for the moment, Velma wondered if he would return. Then her smile reappeared.

He would have to return, and stay. Otherwise, he would give himself—as The Shadow.

OUT in the lobby, Cranston had not gone to a telephone booth at all. Instead, he turned a corner, found a man awaiting him in a secluded spot. The two came face to face both smiled, with the same smile.

A strange meeting this—the amazing Mr. Cranston was face to face with himself!

Two Cranstons, their features identical, their voices the same. Each calm, unhurried, while the first Cranston described his chat with Velma, and the second Cranston listened. This was no case, however, wherein a clever man was talking to an inferior who served him as a temporary double.

The first Cranston, otherwise The Shadow, was the false one; the man to whom he spoke was the real Lamont Cranston!

They had been working this game for years. Away in foreign lands, the real Cranston had kept his whereabouts vague, while The Shadow, in New York, had passed himself as the absent millionaire.

Whenever he returned to New York, Cranston kept his arrival secret until he arranged matters with The Shadow.

This happened to be one of the times when Cranston was waiting for The Shadow to step out of the role, so that he could step in. The sudden flare-up of the Ilsa had delayed the process. But The Shadow, confronted by the problem of Velma Thane, had seen a special use for Cranston. His call from the Cobalt Club had been to Cranston’s home in New Jersey, summoning the millionaire to Manhattan.

During their brief chat, The Shadow and Cranston made sure that their appearances were identical to the last detail. Not only did The Shadow post Cranston properly regarding Velma; he learned something important. The real Cranston had actually been in Shanghai and had not met Velma Thane.

The two Cranstons parted. One, the real Cranston, strolled back into the lounge, to take over where the other had left off. Cranston’s smile showed anticipation; he enjoyed his coming assignment, that of keeping Velma occupied while the alluring lady would think that she was controlling him.

Persons in the lobby failed to observe the face of the other man, who went out through a rear door, for his back was turned toward them. Thus, no one guessed that two Cranstons were in the picture; not even Moe Shrevnitz, whose cab was waiting in the rear street. Moe saw only one Cranston, who stepped into his cab. That Cranston was The Shadow.

Then the cab was away, heading northward, while its passenger was drawing black cloak and hat from a hidden drawer beneath the rear seat. Moe heard the address that The Shadow gave—the Long Island offices of the Superior company.

What puzzled Moe was the laugh that followed—the low, whispered tone of The Shadow, which already carried a note of triumph.

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