
in time to join Harry. He boarded the coupe and Harry started after the cars ahead.
The coupe reached the avenue ahead. It shot across just as the light was turning. A larger coupe, coming
up the avenue, made a sudden swerve and followed Harry's car. A strange, whispered laugh sounded in
the dark interior.
The driver who had uttered that short burst of mirth was hidden in the gloom. His eerie tones, however,
were sufficient pronouncement of his identity. The driver was The Shadow.
SWIFT master of action, The Shadow had dispatched his agents to the scene immediately upon receiving
word from Burbank. His own location must have been more distant. Instead of coming up the avenue
near where the pursuit had begun, he had taken the one ahead, knowing that he might intercept the chase
should it have already begun.
Harry Vincent's coupe had passed the next avenue. It was half a block behind the cars which it was
trailing; The Shadow was a similar interval behind Harry. Watching from the wheel of his coupe, Harry
saw the taxi making a turn to the right. Reaching to the dashboard, Harry clicked the light switch twice.
Cliff Marsland made no comment. He assumed that this was a signal ordered through Burbank; that
Harry had been instructed to mark the turns which the cars ahead might make. Cliff's assumption was
correct.
The Shadow, almost at the avenue behind, saw the double flicker of the tail light on Harry's coupe. With
a quick swerve, he swung his heavy car to the right, going down the nearer avenue just as the traffic lights
were changing.
The motor roared as The Shadow's coupe took the straightaway. The heavy car showed a remarkable
burst of speed. Green ahead—as he passed the first cross street, The Shadow laughed. Glancing to the
left, he had seen the cab passing the same street on the further avenue, a block away.
The pointer on the speedometer shot up to sixty. Across two streets; then, as a traffic opening showed
on the left, The Shadow applied the brakes. The big coupe half-skidded and sped across the path of an
oncoming truck; a hidden foot pressed the accelerator and the sturdy car roared down the side street.
A red light showed ahead. The Shadow took a right turn. His eyes gleamed as they peered toward the
mirror. The soft laugh again sounded from his lips. By rapid maneuver and swift pace, The Shadow had
passed all the cars that formed the caravan. He was ahead of the taxicab which mobsters had chosen for
their quarry.
With slackened speed, The Shadow kept ahead. His eyes were on the mirror. They were watching the
cab, now nearly a block to the rear. The avenue lights changed from green to red. The taxi took a left
turn. The Shadow glimpsed the sedan that swung behind it. He, too, turned left, one street ahead. His
was a two-way thoroughfare.
AGAIN, the coupe showed its speed. The Shadow knew that the one-way street which the taxi had
taken might mark the end of the quest. He picked an avenue which ran beneath the superstructure of the
elevated. A red light gleamed; The Shadow swung left at high speed.
Brakes screamed as cars swerved to avoid the coupe which shot across their path. The Shadow's firm
hand whisked the coupe past an elevated pillar and swung it clear of a parked car.
The Shadow reached the next street ahead of oncoming traffic. Another breakneck turn to the left. The
coupe made a complete U turn and came to a stop facing down the avenue.