
Sayre replied by giving his own name. Tensely, he stated facts concerning the strange patient whom
Cardona had placed in his charge. Burbank's voice concluded:
“Report received. Await return call.”
Doctor Sayre hung up the receiver. Anxiously, he opened the door to the reception room and again
surveyed the patient. The staring man was exactly as Sayre had left him, seated in the big chair, his face
expressionless as he looked straight toward the wall. Seven minutes passed, while Sayre remained almost
as rigid as the man whom he was watching. Then the telephone bell rang.
Sayre bobbed back into the office and closed the door. He lifted the receiver and announced his name.
Again, he heard Burbank's voice; this time, with brief instructions.
The call completed, Sayre hung up and smiled. He opened the door to the reception room; then went to
his desk. Thanks to the opened door, he could keep tabs on his patient, should the man make motion.
No such indications came. Minutes ticked without a stir from the staring man in the next room. Doctor
Rupert Sayre, however, wore a smile of absolute confidence. His chat with Burbank had given him
assurance; for Burbank was The Shadow's contact man.
Sayre's report had been relayed. A return statement had been received. While dusk settled above
Manhattan, Doctor Sayre could wait without a worry. Within the next two hours, the physician would
have another visitor—one whom Sayre believed would surely solve the riddle of the man who stared.
The Shadow, master delver into unaccountable pasts, was coming to take charge of this unexplainable
case.
CHAPTER II. THE SHADOW EXPERIMENTS
DOCTOR SAYRE'S desk clock showed ten minutes after seven, when the physician suddenly chanced
to notice it. Sayre could not have explained the impulse that forced him to drop work that he was doing,
in order to consult the clock. Nor could he have told the reason for his next action.
Sayre had heard nothing; yet, after glancing at the clock, he looked directly toward the outer door of the
office. Tensely expectant, he expected it to open. Slow seconds passed; then the door swung slowly
inward. Silent, smiling, a tall visitor stood on the threshold.
Sayre recognized the countenance that he observed. The smile was slight, formed by thin lips. The visage,
itself, was masklike, with a hawkish aspect. Steady, burning eyes gazed from the immobile face.
“Lamont Cranston!”
In his greeting, Sayre spoke the name instinctively. The physician, like others, knew that Lamont
Cranston was a globe-trotting millionaire, who spent occasional periods at his estate in New Jersey.
More than that, however, Sayre had for a long while identified Lamont Cranston with The Shadow.
Later, Sayre had learned that The Shadow was not Lamont Cranston. There was a real Cranston, who
was seldom at home. The Shadow, when he chose, used Cranston's residence and lived there, passing
himself as the millionaire. This was with the real Cranston's knowledge and approval. But of the two, the
only one who would be visiting Doctor Sayre was The Shadow.
Closing the door, The Shadow advanced and shook hands with the physician. Keen eyes noted the open
doorway to the reception room. The Shadow spoke in a quiet, easy tone: