The sash had been left raised, exactly as it had been found by the police. Hence, a cautious, metallic noise was audible in the room.
The man who was working at the grating was a craftsman in his own line of endeavor. He was loosening the grating in expert fashion. Even when the iron barrier swung wide, its squeaks were repressed.
His difficult task accomplished, the man outside pressed himself through the window. He crawled along the sill, and as he did so, The Shadow drew back toward the nearest corner.
The man in black stood motionless, but his gloved hand gripped the handle of a hidden automatic.
The stranger had entered the room. He was crouched by the window sill. He remained there, listening. Several minutes elapsed before the newcomer was sure that all was well. His breathing, restrained though it was, made a wheezing sound in the darkness.
It was a marked contrast to the silence in the corner where The Shadow stood. No noise whatever came from that quarter.
Now a flashlight shone. It was turned toward the floor, and its bright circle reflected upward to show a huddled, stocky form.
Even in that dim surrounding, the man at the window might have been recognized as the one who had left the lobby after Joe Cardona had departed.
The light swung inward, and pointed at an angle along the floor. The increasing luminosity must have made the man fear it would betray his presence, for he clicked off the light.
He was cautious for a short time; then, again, the flashlight gleamed, but it was turned away from the room. It showed the floor and the base of the radiator.