"You had trapped him before that. He was on his way here in a box. You posed as Rachaud. All that went overboard were clothes and false whiskers — through the porthole of your cabin. Then smug Doctor Savette was merely a passenger for the rest of the trip"
Savette looked at Tremont as The Shadow paused. The man in black had spoken the truth. He had detected the method behind Savette's game.
"Clark Murdock was the next," resumed The Shadow. "I was at his house that night when you seized him and left the body of a dead man in his place. I heard Murdock speak to his servant about the box.
"At that time, I suspected that someone might have designs on Murdock's life, but I did not believe that danger was due to strike so soon. You were clever then, Savette.
"You, Tremont, have told me how you snared Matt Hartley. You would never have succeeded, had you not trapped Marsland, my man here. From then on, you thought you had me helpless. There was no way whereby I could strike. So you thought. Yet there was a way."
The Shadow's laugh was mocking as it crept softly through the room and reverberated eerily from every corner.
"Lamont Cranston was the way," announced The Shadow. "Lamont Cranston, because he was The Shadow. This box was waiting for you, Savette. You came to Cranston's home with your faithful hypodermic. You did not see Cranston place another in the pocket of your coat, and take yours in its stead.
"You did not choose to take the taboret. So Cranston used it, after you had gone to summon the truckmen. He opened the hinge of this box. From the hollow taboret he took certain articles which he required. In the box, Lamont Cranston became — The Shadow!"
A realization dawned on Savette. He remembered how light the taboret had seemed, when he had lifted it after pushing it before. No wonder. It had contained the weapons and the garb that were a part of The Shadow — articles which Lamont Cranston had chosen to carry with him on his journey.
"Tonight," continued The Shadow, "you shall know the death that you imposed upon others. The death from which men awake. Within this building dead men live. They will be released tonight; you shall remain.