Many fingers rested on hair triggers. Should any one appear who might be taken for The Shadow, death would be his!
The entrance to the basement of the old pawnshop was at the end of a short blind alley. It was a tiny cul-de-sac, no deeper than twenty feet. No one was in that spot.
All were wise enough to avoid it. For that — in all probability — would be The Shadow’s place of death. The single opening in the brick-walled alcove was a door, which was locked.
Beneath that door was the room where Farley waited with Homer Briggs.
No less than twenty revolvers and automatics were trained upon that black space. The Shadow could enter it only from the street. Then the gats would blaze.
Should he manage to open the locked door, and pass within, he would not only encounter the indomitable Hank Farley — he would have no other means of escape except by the door through which he had come! For the hideout was a stonewalled chamber!
None were too close to the alley. All gangdom wanted The Shadow to enter it.
There were powerful electric torches among the waiting gangsters who covered the vital spot. These were to reveal the scene when the gunfire began.
There was a street light just away from the entrance of the cul-de-sac; that, too, was of value. It revealed clearly the brick walls of the building, where they fronted on the street. If The Shadow once stepped into that light, he would be visible.
Even as a shadow, he would not be immune, for revolvers would spit flame at the slightest sign.