He did not observe the man who peered at him over the top of a newspaper. That man was dressed like an American; but his face had a yellowish hue.
In the barber shop, Cleve slipped into a chair and ordered a shave. In glancing at Cleve’s face, the barber paused and leaned over, as though wondering about something he saw there.
But the man made no comment; and Cleve did not encourage conversation. He was thinking of his plans for tonight. He was still in a meditative mood when he left the barber shop, and dined in a small restaurant near the hotel.
There, as before, Cleve paid no attention to the persons about him. He did not see the sidelong glances of a man who was seated at a table in the corner. For Cleve, while he ate, was considering an important visit before he set forth to change his character at Moy Chen’s.
CLEVE was thinking about Joseph Darley. So far as he knew, the committeeman still had the paper with the Chinese inscription. Darley had received the paper from Ling Soo. In their discussion, both Darley and Ling Soo had regarded the paper as important.
After all, Cleve felt that he had adopted the wrong course when he had entered Darley’s home, like a burglar. He would have been to blame had he fallen at the hand of Foy.
Cleve was positive now that the Chinese assassin had not recognized him as Hugo Barnes. All during the fray, Foy’s arm had been across Cleve’s face. Then had come the shot — the extinguishing of the lamp — the appearance of The Shadow — the disappearance of Foy.
Ling Soo, last night, had sounded genuine in his talk. So far as the Wu-Fan was concerned, Cleve felt safe; and he smiled as he thought of an additional precaution that would render him secure. That would be adopted tonight.
But why had Foy been at Joseph Darley’s?
There were two answers to the question.