"There's talk about him being away on leave."
"Right," the rajah responded. "Did you stop to think that this is an odd time for him to be away?" Slade became slightly nervous.
"You don't mean" — his voice was tense — "that Cardona might have got wise to the other rings—"
"Not a bit of it!" laughed Rajah Brahman derisively. "That flatfoot couldn't get wise to anything. At the same time, I'd rather have him here in New York than away."
"Why?" questioned Slade, in surprise.
"Because Cardona loves to kick up a fuss," Rajah Brahman explained. "If The Shadow is in this, playing a waiting game, he can't do much while Cardona is in town. Cardona would come blundering on the job as soon as The Shadow started anything. That's why I think there's a reason for Cardona's absence."
"You mean The Shadow?"
"Yes. I mean The Shadow may have decoyed Cardona somewhere. Unless — which is only one chance in a thousand — Cardona has really got a clue. But he can't get far with it if he has. It's The Shadow I think about — not Cardona-"
"I get you, Bert."
"If Cardona moves," the seer continued, "he gives himself away a week beforehand. But you can't tell how The Shadow works. I've heard enough about him to know that. So I'm keeping my eyes open.