The Shadow was gone!
Amazed, Carpenter managed to draw himself to his feet. He looked about him, half expecting to see that phantom figure materialize itself like a spirit from the other world.
The Shadow did not reappear. The room was unquestionably empty. Carpenter, leaning back against the wall, placed his hand upon the desk beside him. He heard something crinkle. He moved his hand, and it touched metal.
Staring downward, Carpenter experienced a new bewilderment. Upon the desk, their edges fluttering in the mild breeze, lay crisp, yellow bank notes. Upon the stack of money rested the revolver which Carpenter had dropped.
With a startled cry, the man pushed the gun aside and seized the money. He counted it with eagerness. Five thousand dollars — all in one-hundred-dollar bills — fifty of them!
Astounded, Carpenter stared about him. He looked toward the closed outer door. He gazed at the half-opened door of his own room. He looked toward the window though which he had attempted to plunge to his death.
Then the answer dawned. The Shadow’s verdict had been given. Herbert Carpenter’s future domicile remained the same. He would return to the penitentiary, as The Shadow had announced. There, he would pay the penalty for the crime. There was no avoiding that just fate.
But his other pleas had been answered. No longer would the innocent suffer. The money — left by the unseen hand — would provide for the innocents who were in want.
That was the meaning of the bank notes. But the revolver? Carpenter’s puzzlement suddenly dwindled. He knew its meaning now. It would be his weapon of protection, while he did the work that he declared he would do.
Four criminals were at large. Three, Carpenter would find. Their trail would lead to the fourth — the hidden man who was the big shot — Wheels Bryant!