Millions of people had heard the voice of The Shadow — were hearing it even now. For, once a week, The Shadow broadcast over the radio on a national chain.
Often had mobsters sought to gain a clue to the identity of the mysterious announcer who spoke from the silence of a black-curtained room. But ever had they failed.
Men lurking at the very door of the inclosed compartment had heard the mocking tones of The Shadow's laugh; and had entered quickly, only to find the room a void.
These facts were known to Joe Cardona, but they had brought him nowhere. Now, his day's work ended, he was seated at his desk in headquarters, staring glumly at the wall. His theories were vanishing like early snowflakes.
The laugh that had echoed through the seance room — it could only have been the laugh of The Shadow!
The amazing disappearance of the thirteenth man — only The Shadow could have accomplished it!
Only one of two men might have killed Herbert Harvey. One was Professor Jacques, the medium — and he could not have done the crime. The other was The Shadow — and he would not have stooped to murder.
Cardona had investigated Herbert Harvey. He had discovered that the man had money and good social standing, although the was alone in New York.
It was possible that Harvey might have been a crook. But it was not the way of The Shadow to strike from the dark, with the knife.
This knowledge brought Cardona back to the impossible. The hand of a ghost — or the hand of Professor Jacques, the pretended ghost maker? Neither could be possible.