“You — you told them,” he repeated. “You told Anelmo and Genara that you knew. You — Monk Thurman — “
“Monk Thurman is dead,” responded the one with the masklike face. “He was dead before I came to Chicago. He was put on the spot in New York. I am not Monk Thurman.”
“You are — ” Savoli stopped.
For from those straight masklike lips came a mocking laugh — a blood-chilling laugh — a laugh which Savoli had heard before. It was the laugh of The Shadow!
THE gangsters were like frozen images. To Nick Savoli and Mike Borrango, this strange turn of affairs seemed beyond belief. Then, gradually their brains functioned; their recollections returned.
They realized the stunning truth; that no one had ever seen Monk Thurman and The Shadow at one and the same time. They realized that this amazing man had gained their confidence and had thwarted them at every move.
The crucial moment had arrived in the career of Nick Savoli! The fate of his underworld empire hung by a thread!
There was only one course to save it; to overpower that terrible man who held the big shot and his six henchmen beneath the muzzles of his automatics!
It was Steve Cronin who acted. He was nearest to The Shadow. The gaze of the man with the masklike face had shifted. With a sudden impulse, Cronin leaped forward, and as he hurled himself against his enemy, he pulled a revolver from his pocket.
The Shadow laughed. He stood motionless, his automatics still holding the others at bay. It was as though he felt himself protected by an invisible power.