“His laugh startled me,” admitted Clyde Burke. “It scared Bull and Carver, too. When you said, ‘Let’s scram!’ they didn’t need any encouragement.
“I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to keep up with them when we ran for that car they had parked around the corner.”
“We covered up our tracks, all right,” added Harry Vincent. “Bull and Carver thought it was best for us to drop out of the picture after that escape. So far as they know, we were just a couple of Chicago gunmen who have gone back to the Middle West.
“I have a hunch that Gunner Macklin wised up — but he can’t trouble us any more.”
“The newspapers are certainly squawking about his death,” observed Clyde. “Wow! What a story I could give them! Steve Lang and Haggerty are still completely mystified.
“Who played the part of Haggerty? Who was the unknown interne? It’s plain to us that The Shadow was one and Palermo the other. But none of the investigators have been able to pick up a clew.
“Palermo must have been desperate, to blot out Macklin the way he did. The Shadow failed to force Macklin’s statement; but Palermo has lost his one lieutenant. He’s up against it, now.”
“You think so?” Harry’s voice was solemn. “Well, you’re wrong there, Clyde. Macklin was the only man living who had anything on Palermo. Now Macklin is gone.
“The Shadow has been checked, Clyde. Without Macklin to testify, there is no chance of revealing Palermo’s crimes. His tracks are completely covered.”
“If they knew the facts about what happened in the Uptown Hospital — “