With shaking steps he stole softly back along the hall. He waited outside the open door for an instant, then thrust his hand against the switch, which he could see in the light from the desk lamp. He was in the room, facing that same corner, with his gun before him.
The room was empty!
Steve Cronin made a hurried search. Under the bed — in the closet. No one there. He stopped at the window. The shade was fully two inches higher than it had been before. He peered out into the darkness.
He could see nothing.
The gangster laughed in a relieved way. He reached to turn off the desk lamp. His hand trembled. A card lay before him. On it, in printed characters, were the words:
REMEMBER. ONCE MORE WILL MEAN YOUR DOOM.
The revolver nearly fell from Cronin's weakened fingers. With feigned boldness he managed to thrust it in his pocket. He still stared at the card with its ominous words. Then suddenly the writing faded. The card was blank!
Steve Cronin rushed from the room. He staggered down the stairs, his suitcase knocking against the rail.
He hailed a cab that was outside the hotel. His voice quivered as he directed the driver to take him to the station.
Cronin's train pulled out at nine o'clock. Alone in a compartment, the westward-bound crook sat huddled and unnerved. Steve feared pursuit, even though he was doing his utmost to escape The Shadow's wrath. Steve wondered where The Shadow had headed from Harrisburg. He might have guessed the answer had he left the city by air, instead of by train.