Gunner Macklin was acting in accordance with the instructions given him by Doctor Palermo. He was after big game tonight — game so big it appalled him. He did not even dare to mention the name of the man whom he sought to overcome. For Gunner feared The Shadow.
The gangster considered himself fortunate. In Louie Seligman he had a safecracker of the first water.
Besides the man who was to puncture Hoetzel’s strong box, Macklin had chosen four others.
“Bull” Goldman and “Carver” Brill were old reliables upon whom he could depend. With them were two Chicago gangsters, Artie Feldmann and Harry Boutonne.
Macklin smiled grimly as he drove uptown. He felt that he could rely upon any one of the four.
Macklin parked his car across the way from the Hoetzel house. A street light gave him a shadowy view of the building and the alley that led down the side. That was the way the men had gone.
Twelve o’clock had been the zero hour. Macklin had not arrived until five minutes later.
Macklin reached beside him and lifted a bottle. He swallowed a mouthful of liquor and steeled himself for what was to come.
The Hoetzel home was accessible only from the front or from the side. Palermo’s plans had called for an entrance from the side. The four men had gone by that direction, with Seligman, the safecracker, in command.
Louie alone knew the method of disconnecting a very important wire that controlled the burglar alarm.