Those whom he impressed became his converts; those whom he failed to sway were chosen as victims. In his strange character of Charn, he had dominated the group of believers.
It was his task, as leader, to perform the rite of Thugee; to strangle with the cord as an example to the followers who might some day hope to attain an infamy equal to his own.
As a token of achievement, Larkin testified, it was Zayata’s wont to leave a mark upon each victim — a small, round spot upon the forehead.
With him, Zayata carried a mechanical tube which generated heat. To it, he pressed the smooth surface of a large signet ring. With the latter device, he seared the foreheads of those whom he killed.
The proofs of this fantastic practice were discovered. The tube was found beside the golden throne. The ring was upon Zayata’s finger. Tests showed that the metal could be heated in less than a minute, when the tube was applied.
The newspapers made much of this, and included the descriptions of strangle cords found in Zayata’s robe. They missed the greatest sensation, however, when they failed to disclose the fact that a victim had been obtained for the last meeting of the crime cult.
Harry Vincent had escaped the cord and the searing ring only because the hand of The Shadow had intervened!
Old Clinton Glendenning was to have been an innocent victim of the crime cult — a man meant to bear the punishment of the law in Henri Zayata’s stead. The evidence indicated his innocence, except for one point — the thumb prints on Charles Blefken’s throat.
Larkin, broken down by grilling, revealed how he had aided in the planting of this false clew. He had easily obtained impressions of Clinton Glendenning’s thumb prints. The old man slept often and soundly. The secretary had used soft clay to duplicate the marks.
From these impressions, it was believed, Zayata had constructed molds. With them, he had left the marks of Glendenning’s thumbs upon the neck of Charles Blefken. Larkin said that he had given the imprints to Zayata.