
coffin, and stuck the knife between the hinges. So it would look like Kent had chucked the knife -"
"Exactly," took up The Shadow as Cardona paused. "In addition, Shiwan Khan expected gunshots to
riddle Kent's body, making death appear to be a matter of bullets."
"Then Shiwan Khan must have guessed a lot," decided Cardona. "He must have figured that I would
bring a couple of men with me."
"Not necessarily, inspector," was Cranston's calm reply. "He expected you to fire the shots, when I
opened the coffin."
WITH those words, The Shadow cleared the remnants of the mystery. Once before, Shiwan Khan had
tried to dispose of Lamont Cranston by means of a dagger thrust.
Weston and Newboldt were recalling the occasion; they agreed that Cranston, with his knowledge of
Tibetan ways, was a natural obstacle to the plans of Shiwan Khan.
In itself, that was a logical reason. But there was a deeper motive behind the attempted murder that
Shiwan Khan had tried to pin upon a dead man. Shiwan Khan knew the real identity of the person who
posed as Lamont Cranston.
The death thrust had been meant for The Shadow!
Such a detail was one that The Shadow naturally reserved for himself. Still playing the part of Cranston,
he questioned Newboldt about the silver coffin; learned how it had been shipped to New York instead of
an expected mummy case.
Obviously, the substitution must have taken place in Egypt, a few weeks before. But it was quite as
apparent that Shiwan Khan had used the coffin as a unique means of not only entering the United States,
but reaching the man whose life he wanted. As a means of entry, the system had worked; as a scheme of
assassination, it had failed.
Kent's death, incidental to the general purpose, had neither enabled Shiwan Khan to conceal his own
presence in New York, nor to eliminate his superfoe, The Shadow. It was simply another heinous deed
to be charged to the evil account of the monstrous Golden Master.
But the return of Shiwan Khan was, in itself, a menace. It meant that every law enforcement agency in the
country would have to prepare for a relentless struggle.
Behind the inflexible calm of Cranston, The Shadow listened to Weston's summary of former outrages
committed by Shiwan Khan. The Golden Master had made three previous trips to America.
First, he had sought planes and munitions for use in world-wide conquest. Again, he had tried to acquire
important inventions, useful in warfare. Thwarted in such efforts, Shiwan Khan had influenced persons of
genius to return with him to Xanadu, there to form the nucleus of a future race that would dominate the
world through sheer intelligence.
Until tonight, nothing had been heard of Shiwan Khan since that experiment began. But The Shadow had
evidence to prove that the great dream of the future had not worked as the Golden Master anticipated.
Again in America, Shiwan Khan was to be dreaded more than ever before. His arrival could mean but
one thing: that he meant this visit to be permanent.
The attempt upon The Shadow's life was proof. In seeking to rid the scene of his archfoe, Shiwan Khan
unquestionably had schemes of supercrime within his golden sleeve. Knowing The Shadow to be crime's