It was the man in black who opened the door. Standing in the gloom, his automatic still a threat, he watched Glade Tremont walk from the house. Then his tall form flitted through the opening. The door closed almost as if the lawyer himself had shut it.
Tremont descended to the drive. His footsteps crunched upon the gravel. The step of the car creaked as he entered the automobile.
He could not see The Shadow — in fact, Tremont dared not look behind him. He entered the car on the side opposite the driver's seat. As he shut the door, he stared past the wheel. He saw the opposite door closing softly.
The Shadow had tricked him! Instead of keeping him covered, The Shadow had silently flitted past the car to the other side. Noiselessly, invisibly, he had entered. Tremont could see only a mass of black. It indicated The Shadow — behind the steering wheel of the car!
The starter purred. The motor throbbed. The lights of the car came on — with the exception of the dash light. The two men in the car were invisible.
Tremont sensed the boldness of The Shadow's plan. If anyone had been seen, it must have been Tremont himself. With the car pulling away openly, Biff Towley might be deceived into thinking that Tremont was leaving of his own accord, at the wheel of his coupe.
Tremont suppressed a groan as he realized his hopelessness. Why should Biff suspect that anything was wrong? He and his hounds of the underworld had been watching this house all evening. Only Tremont had been seen to enter. They did not suspect the presence of The Shadow!
Deliberately, The Shadow drove Tremont's car to the circling end of the drive. He swung the wheel; then backed the car and started it forward. He headed out along the drive, toward the safety of the street. Tremont was too alarmed to move. He was being shanghaied in his own automobile, and he could not prevent it!
All seemed well with The Shadow's plan. The calm handling of the car gave every indication that nothing could be wrong. But as the front wheels turned left from the drive, an unexpected interruption occurred, From a car hidden across the street, a blinding searchlight turned its rays directly upon the coupe!
Biff Towley was making sure. He knew that if Glade Tremont were leaving, the searchlight's momentary glare could do no harm. The gang leader, with stout henchmen by his side, was watching from his own machine.