The clean-up of the Spook Ring was a natural consequence of the battle at Rajah Brahman's apartment. With Joe Cardona and his men in complete control, the dead bodies and the contents of the apartment were striking proofs of the strength that the evil organization had possessed. Dick Terry told a valuable story. He recounted his rescue from Barney Gleason's mob. He told how he had been advised to lay low; how Thomas Telford— whom Dick Terry did not name as The Shadow — had arranged the surprise at Rajah Brahman's.
Dick had received a key from Telford. It enabled him to get into the storeroom, where he had lain in wait for Imam Singh.
Telford, whose part had been so great, had simply chosen to disappear. Joe Cardona would have liked him for a witness, but well did he know that the man would never be located. For Joe Cardona realized that this mysterious man, whose identity proved to be nonexistent, was actually The Shadow. Working alone, he had completely deceived the crafty fakers.
Rajah Brahman was identified as Bert Clutten; Imam Singh as a young Italian named Tony Petruchi. The two had been working a spins graft for years.
Lining up with Benjamin Castelle, the organizer who had raised the racket to the million-dollar class, they had plied their crooked trade to the utmost.
Martin Slade's complete confession had told everything. A crafty murderer, Slade had arranged the deaths of various innocent persons. Rajah Brahman's bluebook and his filing cases gave hints of contemplated deaths that were now frustrated forever.
When Cardona had found the trapdoor to the floor below, and had realized the method of The Shadow's vanishing, he descended. He discovered the storeroom with its equipment. Articles of disguise— false and fraudulent devices — all sorts of paraphernalia that went with the crooked trade. What interested Cardona particularly was a chair which he recognized as the one that Professor Jacques had been tied in, that night at the Dalban. Now, when the detective examined the chair, he found that one arm rattled. Close inspection showed that the arms lifted off completely; but went back automatically. That trick chair marked Jacques as the slayer of Herbert Harvey. The medium, caught, confessed what had happened.
Harvey, a confederate who supplied him with information, had carried the luminous knife. Seeing trouble, Jacques had raised his arms in the dark and had obtained the knife from Harvey. The medium's legs still remained bound to the chair.
When Harvey struggled with the unknown assailant whom Cardona knew must have been The Shadow — Jacques struck at the enemy. But a twist in the dark had sent the knife into the body of his own confederate. Losing hold of the knife, Jacques had quickly shoved the chair arms back into place. Cardona had missed the trick then. He saw it now. For The Shadow had left an arm loose for him to find.
Sensational headlines told of the raid at Rajah Brahman's. Castelle's mighty racket was exposed. The confession of Professor Jacques followed as a tremendous story. Cardona lifted the lid when he revealed the names of mediums throughout the country.