“But remember” — his tone was calloused, mercenary — “the ace is higher than any king!”
Wheels Bryant snapped off the light. He strode through the darkness, opened the door, and left the place. As the door closed behind Wheels, Big Tom Bagshawe turned on the light. The four men looked at each other.
None commented on their interview with Wheels Bryant. They knew him for what he was, the biggest of big shots, a man who went after money relentlessly, and who had never failed to escape the toils of the law. He had declared them kings — each in his own right. Crime would soon be rampant in Seaview City.
One by one the men left the room. Without definite prearrangement, they departed in the same way they had come. The last of the four was Herbert Carpenter.
Standing alone, the well-groomed man glanced at the king of hearts, which he still held in his hand.
“Four kings and an ace,” he said. “Nevertheless” — his air was thoughtful — “there may be other cards in this deck.”
Then Carpenter, too, was gone. This room, like the Green Room below, was empty. Forces of the law and masters of crime had met in the same hotel.
There was prophecy in the words Herbert Carpenter had idly uttered. The game was on; the deck was stacked in favor of crime. Yet there were other cards which could be held, and some unknown man might hold them.
The solons of Seaview City might ignore the fact that crime was in their midst, and that this meeting had been held, but there was one who would be alert.
That one was The Shadow!