
Time did not seem to exist within this darkness-shrouded room. Yet silence and gloom alike could cease
when The Shadow made his presence known. The signal which marked their disappearance was a slight
click that sounded amid blackness. The flickering rays of a bluish lamp were focused upon the polished
surface of a table.
The Shadow's hands were busy. Into the light came an envelope. The long white fingers opened it. A
sheet of paper was quickly spread; hidden eyes from the dark perused its written lines, which were
inscribed in vivid blue.
The letter was in code. The Shadow read it rapidly, and as he finished, the inky lines began to disappear.
The paper became a total blank. Such was the procedure with all of the messages that passed between
The Shadow and his agents. Prepared with a special chemical, the ink was designed to vanish after its
perusal.
A whispered laugh sounded in the gloom. It was The Shadow's token of keen interest in a matter which
had attracted his attention. This message was from Cliff Marsland, one of The Shadow's active agents. It
had come through Rutledge Mann, a contact man who posed as a conservative investment broker.
Cliff Marsland was quartered in the underworld. There, reputed to be a mobster of prowess, Cliff had
the faculty of learning when crime impended. His messages to The Shadow frequently carried information
that enabled the master fighter to spring from nowhere and attack dangerous crooks unaware.
To-night, however, Cliff had reported total failure. He was engaged upon a mission in The Shadow's
behalf, and so far he had gained no results. The job to which Cliff had been deputed was that of learning
the whereabouts of Seth Cowry, a missing racketeer.
THERE was a reason why The Shadow wanted to know what had become of Cowry. Until a few
months ago, the man had been engaged in various enterprises that had branded him as a shady customer.
Yet no one had ever been able to pin the goods on Cowry. The police had been watching him. So had
The Shadow. Now, for no apparent cause, the man had disappeared.
Had Seth Cowry been put on the spot?
Cliff Marsland suspected so. Nevertheless, Cliff's coded report had given no assurance. Cliff had learned
simply that Cowry was missing. Any one of a dozen mob leaders might have arranged for him to get the
works. At the same time, Cowry's underworld connections had all been in perfect order.
It was unusual for a racketeer of Cowry's water to leave New York. Cowry's record had been getting
better and better. If he had been planning some clever scheme, Cowry should certainly not have
departed from Manhattan. That action, in itself, would be sufficient to bring the police upon his trail.
To The Shadow, this was obvious. Seth Cowry, dead or alive, must certainly have been engaged in some
peculiar enterprise. To trace it, The Shadow sought news regarding Seth Cowry. More than that, The
Shadow knew that Detective Joe Cardona was interested in what might have become of the missing
racketeer. That, too, was of significance.
The failure of his agent, Cliff Marsland, had been the cause of The Shadow's hollow laugh. When Cliff
encountered difficulties, it was a sure sign that mystery lay within the confines of the bad lands. The
Shadow's hand, resting upon the polished table, raised a pen and inscribed the name in bright-blue
writing on a sheet of white paper.
Seth Cowry.