The Shadow's Shadow

CHAPTER XII THE SHADOWING

ON the following day, Felix Zubian began a task that was greatly to his liking. He became The Shadow’s shadow. He took up this work under ideal conditions; for it was no longer necessary for him to trail a phantom of the night. Instead, he was tracking a man who made no efforts to avoid observation.

In shadowing The Shadow, Zubian was extremely careful. He knew that it would be unwise to stay too close to the man who posed under the identity of Lamont Cranston; so he decided to use the Cobalt Club as his base of operations. Douglas Carleton facilitated matters by introducing Zubian as a guest member of the club.

Lamont Cranston lunched at the club at noon. When he left the place, Zubian was standing outside the revolving door. He heard Cranston give the doorman the address of a building on a side street near Times Square. That address was repeated to a cab driver who had pulled up.

After Cranston had left, Zubian headed for the spot. He found the address to be that of an old building. Zubian entered the place and ascended a flight of dilapidated stairs. He studied each floor as he went up, intending to make a more careful inspection on the way down.

On the hallway of the fifth floor, Zubian noticed only one occupied office. As he passed it, the door began to open. Without hesitating, Zubian continued on and fumbled with the door of an office beyond. Peering cautiously, he saw Cranston’s tall form heading for the stairway. Zubian smiled, realizing that he had escaped detection.

After Cranston’s departure, Zubian hastened from the building and went back to the Cobalt Club. Cranston had not returned; so Zubian decided to make some quiet investigations. By casual questioning of employees of the club, he learned a few facts concerning the multimillionaire.

Lamont Cranston lived in a palatial home in New Jersey, and went there every night. He was unquestionably an eccentric sort of man. This, together with the information that Carleton had given, brought Zubian to the conclusion that the identity of Cranston was one which The Shadow had assumed merely as a convenient cloak.

Lamont Cranston was noted as a traveler and a hunter of big game. His affairs, Zubian learned, were so arranged that they moved along while he was out of the country.

Zubian knew, from his contact with gangland, that The Shadow was always close to New York. Yet these expeditions which Cranston undertook were certainly bona fide. What, then, was the solution?

The answer came. There must be a real Lamont Cranston — a man now absent from the United States — and The Shadow must pose as him during his absence. A clever scheme, indeed, thought Zubian.

WHEN Cranston dined at the club that evening, Zubian watched again. The millionaire left in a taxi — his destination a theater. Zubian went to the same playhouse.

He saw Cranston in the lobby, and watched him. He noted that Cranston went to a telephone booth in the lounge, between each act. But Zubian could not approach close enough to overhear the conversation.

After the show, Cranston returned to the club. There, Zubian saw him depart in a limousine.

Calling a cab, The Shadow’s shadow traced the car. It went downtown, passed through the Holland Tunnel, and headed west in New Jersey. Zubian followed no farther.

The second day, Zubian was again watching for Cranston. He saw the millionaire arrive for luncheon at the club. Once again, Cranston visited the building near Times Square. This time, Zubian went there, but did not enter. He took it for granted that The Shadow — for Zubian had no doubt as to the man’s identity — had gone to that office on the fifth floor.

Cranston came out, and Zubian entered the building. He went up to the fifth floor and boldly knocked at the door of the office. A wheedling voice invited him to come in. Entering, Zubian discovered an old man.

“You would like to see some of my curios?” questioned this individual.

“Ah, yes,” responded Zubian. “Not to-day, but later, Mr.” — he paused, as though trying to recall a name — “ah, I have forgotten—”

“Crayle is my name,” interposed the old man. “Hawthorne Crayle. A very unusual name.”

“I remember it now,” said Zubian, with a smile. “Some one told me to come here and get acquainted. I am interested in curios, you know.”

The old man became loquacious. He talked of his unique business, hardly allowing Zubian a chance to interpose a word.

When Zubian left, he felt that he had followed a blind trail. It was obvious that Cranston came here only to look over the old man’s wares. Crayle had mentioned that certain wealthy men were interested in the goods he had to offer. Cranston was probably but one of them.

Shortly before six o’clock, Zubian, back at the Cobalt Club, saw Cranston enter. The millionaire made a telephone call. That fact was important. Zubian recalled that Cranston had made a similar call the day before.

After dinner, Zubian began another shadowing of The Shadow. It led to a theater; but there Cranston merely purchased tickets for a future show, and went back to the club, where he spent the evening in leisure.

FELIX ZUBIAN was disgruntled as he sat in the grillroom. In all his shadowing, he had discovered nothing. There was no visit to Twenty-third Street; no action against gangsters; no contact — unless by telephone — with Rutledge Mann or Harry Vincent.

After Cranston had again departed for his New Jersey home, Zubian realized that he was dealing with a shrewd antagonist. Somehow, Cranston must have surmised that enemies were present; or else he was merely playing a waiting game until crime developed that would demand the presence of The Shadow.

When the third day arrived, Zubian planned a visit to New Jersey, should nothing else develop. He saw Cranston arrive at the club in his limousine. Zubian had learned the name of the chauffeur — Stanley. That was his only contact with Cranston’s home affairs.

Once again, Cranston left in a cab for the building near Times Square. This seemed to be a habit with him; yet Zubian saw no significance.

He trailed Cranston after the man left the place. To Zubian’s chagrin, Cranston merely visited a motion-picture matinee. That, Zubian decided, would be an opportunity to pay a quick visit to Cranston’s home in New Jersey. Zubian called Gats Hackett, and soon afterward met a gangster-driven sedan. He rode to the Holland Tunnel, through the tube, and into New Jersey.

It was then that Zubian became impatient. His impatience brought sudden inspiration. He ordered the gangster to return to New York. On the trip, Zubian became intensely active. He chuckled as his car rolled through the tunnel. He began making notations as he rode up Seventh Avenue.

Reaching a spot near Gats Hackett’s hotel, Zubian alighted and entered a telephone booth. He called the Devaux home, and was fortunate enough to find Carleton there. Zubian quickly stated the purpose of his call.

“I want to see Gats Hackett,” he told Carleton. “Get in touch with him right away. Tell him to take orders from me, to-night. I have a plan.”

Carleton’s acquiescence came across the wire. Zubian waited a short while; then strolled up to see the gang leader. Their conference was a brief but important one. When Zubian again appeared upon the street, he wore a suave smile.

Outside of the theater where Cranston had gone, Zubian waited at an inconspicuous spot, and picked up the millionaire’s trail when the man appeared. Cranston went directly to the Cobalt Club, and Zubian followed. There, at six o’clock, Cranston made the inevitable telephone call.

Zubian was not at all annoyed when he discovered that Cranston was evidently intending to spend the evening at the club. Instead, Zubian kept out of Cranston’s sight for the time, and put in another call to Douglas Carleton. He told the young clubman to stop at the club after he left Devaux’s. This was to be Carleton’s first visit there since Zubian had discovered the identity of The Shadow, and had so effectively become The Shadow’s shadow.

Dining late, Zubian thought of what he had planned for to-night. Shadowing The Shadow had brought him a solution for the pressing problem — the elimination of The Shadow. That was the purpose which to-night intrigued Felix Zubian, The Shadow’s shadow.