When Tremont reached his upstairs study, he turned on a light by the desk. He looked about the room. Though his glance was keen, it did not detect that shadowy shape that stood beyond the bookcase. The lawyer walked over to the closet and opened the door. In so doing, he passed within two feet of The Shadow; yet he did not see the form of the man in black.
The closet door, swinging wide, formed a barrier between Tremont and The Shadow. The lawyer left the door half open, and returned to his desk. He sat there, meditative.
Slow minutes went by. Glade Tremont was apparently waiting for the arrival of a visitor.
Ten o'clock came. The telephone on Tremont's desk began to ring. The lawyer raised the receiver.
"Hello?" he questioned. "Yes. This is Mr. Tremont… Ah — Matt Hartley?… I've been expecting you… Fifteen minutes? Yes, indeed. I shall be here… You have your car? Come right up the drive by the house. Look out for my car. You can park in back of it… Good… Yes, I am alone…" The lawyer's voice dwindled. He replaced the receiver on the hook, and his cold, stern features took on a malicious look.
Resting back in his chair, Tremont half closed his eyes and folded his hands across his chest. He seemed to be enjoying the thought of Matt Hartley's coming visit.
Thus unobservant, the lawyer did not notice a long shadow that stretched across the floor toward the outer edge of the desk. A form followed that streak of black. The Shadow glided from his hiding place. Tall and silent, he stood before the desk — a figure of doom.
Glade Tremont opened his eyes. He looked upward and blinked. Before him stood the man in black, a fantastic being conjured from nothingness. The flowing cloak, the broad-brimmed hat — these formed the figure of the mysterious personage who had come unseen.
Tremont saw the glow of two menacing eyes. He observed the muzzle of a powerful automatic, poised in a black-clad hand.
Fiends of crime had quailed before that figure. The Shadow, mysterious avenger, had brought shudders to the stoutest frames. Yet Glade Tremont gave no sign of a perturbed spirit.