That single word sounded like the knell of doom. There was no escape. Savette prepared to make the injection. Then, suddenly, he stood still, and his eyes regained their shrewdness. For a moment. They had looked beyond Harold Sharrock, toward the door of this secluded living room. Quickly, Savette dropped his eyes toward Tremont's arm. He appeared to be busy with the hypodermic. But in that moment, he had betrayed himself.
The Shadow's quick eyes darted toward the door. There, a wicket had opened. And, noiselessly, a panel had dropped.
Peering through the hole in the door was the fierce, bearded face of Ivan Orlinov!
Something gleamed beside that blackened countenance. Orlinov was bringing the muzzle of a revolver into play, turning it toward the figure of The Shadow!
The game had been discovered. Orlinov, coming to conduct his confederates to the torture chamber below, had been wary. He had heard the sound of voices. He had decided to look in to learn what had transpired since the arrival of Doctor Savette.
Now he was preparing to slay The Shadow. He had arrived in the nick of time to save his companions from the sentence that The Shadow had imposed upon them!
Chapter XXIII — The Attack
The Shadow and Ivan Orlinov acted simultaneously.
Their chances of success were equal. The Russian, with his gun beside his face, had a difficult aim to make, but the tall form of The Shadow formed an excellent target.
Orlinov's countenance, framed in the open panel, was a small mark, but one which The Shadow could cover with a quick swing of one automatic.