The Shadow - Serpents Of Siva Part 13

"His process was so simple that I did not foresee it. He merely went on the a.s.sumption that Morton Mayland was innocent. Because of that, he suspected the letter with the changed date - the main evidence against Mayland.

"I wrote that letter, giving it a former date. I erased the false date myself; in its place I inscribed the correct one. That was for your benefit, Inspector Cardona. I supposed that you would test the letter with ultra-violet light.

"The bones and ashes of a dissecting room corpse, along with my wrist watch, were sufficient evidence to prove my demise. Of course, the box that I shipped to Mayland's was valuable. But the murder of Sarmon - done by my Serpents, in Mayland's own home - was best of all."

UNDERSTANDING of many things gripped Joe Cardona. It was Rensh.e.l.l, familiar with Mayland's premises, who had fixed the pa.s.sages, by having them cut in from the empty houses.

Rensh.e.l.l, too, had known of Mayland's feud with Bolingbroke. Rensh.e.l.l had called Mayland, exactly as the old man said, to hoax him to Bolingbroke's apartment. There, again, The Shadow, convinced of Mayland's innocence, had taken the old man's testimony as proof that Rensh.e.l.l still lived.

Rensh.e.l.l had come back to his favorite theme, upon which he gloated. "The Shadow!" he exclaimed, with lips that expressed disdain. "He was clever - very clever - particularly tonight, when he spoke for one of my Serpents. I learned that, when Singhar Bund told me that only four had come here. I, unfortunately, had given orders to five, through the loud-speaker in the Siva statue.

"Words spoken to Siva always reach my ears. That is why I know that all of you are doomed. Because only one person could save you; and he no longer lives.

Somewhere, along tonight's trail, my Arms and Eyes disposed of The Shadow!"

There was a grating sound, as scarcely noted as the clang that had announced Rensh.e.l.l's appearance. It came from the alcove to the left of the Siva statue. Singhar Bund happened to be on that side; chance turned the Hindu's gaze to the upright casket.

The sarcophagus had opened. Not from the padlocked side, but at the hinged edge. From the outswung door was stepping a shape in black.

Singhar Bund tried to gulp a warning; he was too stupefied to turn his gun toward The Shadow.

"The fake casket" - Singhar Bund was pumping words mechanically - "with the fake hinges, rigged so the yogi could come out! The air holes - to let him breathe - he could hear through those! He heard everything -"

There was no need for Singhar Bund to spout the ident.i.ty of the person who had heard. The Shadow declared it, as he took a long stride from the alcove.

With one automatic covering Singhar Bund, he thrust the other straight for Courtney Rensh.e.l.l.

WITH a quick drop, Rensh.e.l.l went below the tilted platform edge, hoping that the bra.s.s square would serve him as a shield. The Shadow made a sidestep toward the alcove, then an evasive shift in the opposite direction.

Tricked, Rensh.e.l.l fired wide. He was keeping his guns close to shelter.

Before he could aim anew, The Shadow was at an outer angle. Automatics spoke, their targets Rensh.e.l.l's gun arms. With those blasts came the blast of a revolver.

Flinging caution aside, Joe Cardona had whipped out the revolver that crooks had not bothered to take from him. Joe was doing his best to return The Shadow's favor. It helped his aim.

As Rensh.e.l.l's arms flopped from the slugs that clipped them, the mastercrook sprawled dead. Cardona's bullet had reached the schemer's heart.

Singhar Bund was aiming during that action. So was Phineas Leeth. But their belated efforts were hopeless. Chiming with the blasts delivered by The Shadow and Cardona, two other guns produced a staccato from the shattered bra.s.s gates.

Harry and Cliff had accompanied Lucille to the temple. They had held Rensh.e.l.l covered from the moment of his appearance. When The Shadow took on Rensh.e.l.l, his agents cared for Leeth and Singhar Bund. Both were sprawled wounded on the floor, their pilfered revolvers unfired.

Echoes were prolonged within that room of bra.s.s, as The Shadow left those lesser murderers to the law. Crossing the alcoved temple, the black-cloaked avenger reached the open gates. His laugh quivered, to add new echoes that threw back resonance from every wall.

When Lucille looked, The Shadow was gone. Weston and Cardona, too, were staring, amazed at the swiftness of their rescuer's departure. All eyes were startled, except those jeweled optics of the Siva statue, that shone - a dozen of them - with flashing brilliance.

The faces of the maligned image held their downcast gaze. They seemed tobeam with satisfaction upon the sprawled form of Courtney Rensh.e.l.l. He, the real master of the Siva Serpents, had paid his price for murder.

Only the power of The Shadow had solved the riddle of the killer who dwelt beneath the image of Siva. The Shadow's strategy had brought that murderer to light.

THE END.