“Yes,” said the millionaire quietly. “I was merely abducted. Taken away by order of the Silent Seven. They kept me alive, because they thought they might need me later. I was rescued last night.”
“By whom?”
“By a man in a black cloak. I didn’t see his face, beneath his hat brim. He took me to a hotel, and on the way he told me the facts. Then he disappeared.”
“The Shadow!” cried Cardona.
“After my abduction,” said Blake, “another man was put here in my place. His name was Dodge. This chap you call The Shadow knows a bit about him. Says that if you get his finger prints in the morgue, you will find that he did a term in Sing Sing.
“My friend” — the words were sarcastic — “my friend Paget found this fellow Dodge. The Silent Seven put him in here to raise havoc with my possessions. The Shadow came out here to expose him. In the fracas, Dodge was killed!”
“That lets Otto out,” said Cardona. “Dodge was committing a crime when he took your place. It won’t take us long to trace his criminal record. You’ll have your chauffeur back double-quick, Mister Blake.”
Some one knocked at the door. Herbert admitted Clyde Burke. The ex-reporter grinned at Cardona.
“Hot stuff, Joe,” he said. “I’ve just taken a job with the Evening Classic. I want first crack at this story. I got a tip-off that Wilbur Blake wasn’t dead, after all.”
BURKE’S story of Wilbur Blake’s return was a masterpiece of tabloid news. The caption, “Back from the Dead,” appeared beneath Wilbur Blake’s picture.