A newspaper lay beside him. Cardona looked at the front page. Then he temporarily forgot his problems. He was reading the account of a gun fight in a house on the shore of Lake Michigan. Al Barruci and Snooks Milligan, noted gangsters, had been slain. A death trap had been discovered. Two other gangsters had died in the fray. The police, brought to the spot by a mysterious telephone tip, had carried away two more who were wounded.
The news of the affair was causing consternation in gangland. The two men who lived would not talk. It was believed that a quarrel had taken place between the two gang leaders and their underlings. That was all.
Joe Cardona grinned. The account bore no reference to the surprising rescue of a captured New York detective. Nor did it mention the fact of a rescuer.
The Shadow had come and gone, leaving no trace of his mysterious, timely presence!
Chapter XIX — Slade Signs
Martin Slade, posing as James Telford, was on the front terrace of the Long Island bungalow. It was late in the afternoon. His adopted father had not yet returned from his trip to Baltimore. Slade was in a mood of elation. He had gone through the safe during Thomas Telford's absence. He had learned facts regarding the old man's wealth and holdings.
Had there been valuables in the safe, Slade might have had difficulty in resisting the temptation to purloin them, for he was a crook through and through.
He had learned, however, during his stealthy search, that Thomas Telford kept all stock certificates and valuable items in safe-deposit vaults.
A taxi wheeled up to the bungalow, and Thomas Telford alighted. Slade advanced with a warm greeting, to help the old man with his suitcase.
Thomas Telford shook his head and strode directly into the house. Slade, watching in surprise, saw the old man enter the room where the safe was located. The door slammed behind him. What was the meaning of this? Martin Slade's brow became furrowed. Had Telford learned something that had put him wise to the deceptive game that Slade was playing? It seemed a logical explanation of the old man's action.