“The Shadow,” observed Biscayne, “is the name adopted by a man who makes radio announcements. I have heard him over the air — he has a weird, uncanny laugh.”
“Well,” declared Weston, “Cardona has taken care of that. He actually believes that there is a connection between the radio announcer and the strange being who moves by night.”
“Not really!” exclaimed Biscayne. “That is too absurd, especially for a man so attentive to detail as Detective Cardona—”
“I mean it, Biscayne,” affirmed the commissioner. “Cardona claims that he has received mysterious information pertaining to certain cases which he has handled.
“He tells me that he has heard telephoned messages, uttered in that same weird voice. He says that he has encountered a man in black, but has never been able to discover his identity.”
“THAT is excusable, commissioner,” said Biscayne, in an indulgent tone. “We might almost regard it as a form of superstition with Cardona.
“You know, a great many people are so unimaginative that when they meet with the simplest facts that seem unexplainable, they seize upon the theory which is closest at hand, and none can shake them from it.”
“You have described Cardona,” declared Weston. “That form of susceptibility appears to be his weakness.
“When you first talked to me, a few months ago, about the higher methods of crime detection, I was extremely anxious to experiment along those lines.
“In Cardona, I have found the ideal man — from the practical standpoint. His records show that he utilizes facts to the utmost.