He turned to the want-ad section.
“Maybe this will interest you more,” he sneered. “You’re liable to be looking for a job pretty soon. Humph!” — the inspector grunted — “you’d better put in an ad like this one. A big executive. Wants a job with minimum salary of ninety-seven hundred and fifty bucks a year.
“That’s a tip for you, Joe. Ex-detective wants a job. Fifteen thousand or up. Especially willing to shadow The Shadow—”
CARDONA angrily snatched the newspaper from the inspector’s hands. He opened it to the front page and pointed to a small heading.
“Look at that,” he said. “I told the reporter to put it in.”
“‘Detective Nonplused,’” read Klein. “‘The disappearance of man from the wrecked car is a mystery to Detective Cardona. He seems to be facing the same failure that he encountered in the Lukens murder. He openly admitted that unless he finds a new clew—”
Klein dropped the paper and stared.
“You — told — the — reporter — to — put that in!” he said, in astonished tones. “What in blazes made you do that?”
“I wanted The Shadow to read it,” replied Cardona. “That bloke, wherever he is, may have the key to Blake’s death as well as the Lukens case. He promised me—”
“Promised you!” blared the inspector. “You’re crazy, Joe. He may be the guy in back of it all!”