Many gunmen were in the offing. Those who had first arrived had taken the most desirable spots. The others had scattered through the surrounding neighborhood.
Why wait for The Shadow to reach his destination? Bump him off as soon as he had entered within the outer cordon!
There was one faint hope for the man in black. Should he sense danger on the way, he might abandon his excursion.
All experienced mobsters, however, were sure that their enemy would get within the danger zone. The Shadow was no mean antagonist.
The sight of a few waiting gangsters would spur him onward, rather than deter him. He could not possibly know the size of the tremendous trap that awaited him. It had exceeded, many times, even the expectations of those who sponsored it.
Both bold and stealthy, The Shadow would dare the risky undertaking. But he was due for a surprise. Never, in the history of the underworld, had such a mob assembled!
Men who were sworn enemies — members of rival gangs — rubbed elbows and exchanged whispered greeting.
“Death to The Shadow!”
The sentence had a double meaning. Its declarers might well have added:
“Life to crime.”