Part 1 (2/2)

The presiding officer rapped an order for adjournment. The strokes of the gavel made Colonel Follingsby shudder as if he had heard his death knell. He could foresee that when the court-martial a.s.sembled again, its first business would be the giving of a verdict.

That verdict would be guilty. Dismissal from the service would be Follingsby's disgrace. Yet that, alone, was not the full cause of the colonel's misery. Over Follingsby hung the terrible knowledge that he had been responsible for an irreparable loss.

All that General Darson had stated was fact. Victimized by the vicious influence of conniving spies from foreign countries, the military defense of the United States was confronted by the most pressing situation in its history.

Army and navy alike had relied upon the National Emergency Code to meet a crisis.

Should the NEC fall into the hands of the wrong foreign power, that nation might easily choose to declare war upon the United States. American forces would be paralyzed; for the National Emergency Code contained every intricate system that had been secretly devised for military use. National calamity - if it came - would be blamed solely upon Colonel Follingsby.

There were serious faces on the men who left that somber room. All knew that the fate of Colonel Follingsby was trivial; that the national welfare was the cause at stake. Subtly, the trial officers had sought to ferret out some chance clues that would lead to the recovery of the National Emergency Code.

They were faced by the realization that they had utterly failed.

One listener, however had gained a vital fact. The Shadow's thin, masklike lips showed the slightest semblance of a smile. As witness to the court-martial proceedings, The Shadow had gained a fact that interested him.

Had he been called upon to name the man who had stolen the National Emergency Code, The Shadow could have done so. That, however, did not fit withThe Shadow's policy.

Knowing the ident.i.ty of the man who possessed the missing NEC, The Shadow was planning to regain the doc.u.ment intact. It was more important to secure those papers than to expose the criminal.

CHAPTER II.

A THIEF'S THRUST.

OUTSIDE the court-martial room, The Shadow shook hands with Senator Ross Releston. That was to be expected, because the senator had long known The Shadow as Lamont Cranston. In fact, The Shadow was quite sure that the senator was responsible for the president summoning him to Was.h.i.+ngton.

Though Senator Releston did not know that The Shadow traveled as Cranston, he had learned from experience that any facts given to Cranston eventually reached The Shadow. Since the recovery of the NEC was so vital to the whole country, it had been an urgent matter to get word to The Shadow.

The senator introduced his friend Cranston to ex-Major Frederick Bryland.

The three entered the senator's limousine. The Shadow remarked that he was stopping at the Hotel Halcyon, but could spend a short while at Releston's hotel, the Barlingham. Bryland asked to be let off at a parking lot where he had left his coupe.

”It's after six o'clock,” remarked the former major. ”I can reach Fairfax easily before seven. That will be in time for dinner. Of course, senator, I can stay in Was.h.i.+ngton, if you want to see me. I have a small apartment here, where I stay when the weather is bad.”

”I doubt that there will be any new developments,” returned Releston.

”Call me from your home later, Bryland.”

Bryland dropped off at the parking lot. The limousine continued to the Barlingham. Soon, The Shadow and Releston were alone in the senator's extensive apartment. They chatted until a secretary appeared, bringing typed copies of the court-martial testimony, with the added proceedings of the afternoon. The Shadow put copies of the new pages with the ones that he had already received.

”Those must go to The Shadow,” a.s.serted Releston, as soon as they were again alone. ”That is important, Cranston. I hope that he will learn something from the testimony, although it seems to offer no clue to the whereabouts of the NEC. If he does gain facts, there is something else that he should know.

Agent F-3 is in Was.h.i.+ngton.”

The Shadow pretended to be puzzled. He knew whom Releston meant by Agent F-3; but as Cranston, it was better to appear ignorant.

”Agent F-3 is a member of the secret service,” explained Releston. ”He is something of a mystery man, who spends his time abroad. To-day, I received word that Agent F-3 is in Was.h.i.+ngton. If The Shadow gains facts, he should cooperate with F-3.”

The senator wrote an address on a slip of paper and gave it to The Shadow.

The address was that of a house on H Street.

”That address,” said Releston, ”is where The Shadow can find Agent F-3.”

LEAVING Releston's, The Shadow went to the Hotel Halcyon. He had dinnerin the dining room; after that, he stopped at the check room and obtained a small bag that he had left there. He went up to the fourth floor and entered the two-room suite that he had taken in the name of Lamont Cranston. Pa.s.sing through the small living room, he left his bag in the bedroom.

Returning to the living room, The Shadow noted other bags; also the case of a portable typewriter. He had brought these with him when he had registered.

During his absence they had been disturbed. The person who had gone through the luggage could have learned nothing. All evidence that proved The Shadow's actual ident.i.ty was in the single bag that he had brought from the check room.

The Shadow looked across the living room. On the opposite side was the door to another bedroom, that could be added to the suite if three rooms were required. It was plain that the intruder could have come from that room.

Like The Shadow's bedroom, the other one probably had a doorway of its own to the hall. Picking locks would not have troubled the thief who had opened Follingsby's desk drawer.

The Shadow's portable typewriter was on a table. Tucked under the roller, The Shadow found a note typed on hotel stationery. It had been typed on The Shadow's own machine. The note stated: Be wise. Leave Was.h.i.+ngton. Call Senator Releston. Inform him that neither you - nor any one connected with you - will continue to search for the NEC.

Failure to heed this warning will mean death!

There was a telephone close by the entrance to The Shadow's bedroom. It had an extension cord of considerable length. The Shadow picked up the telephone, turned his back and jiggled the hook. He gave the number of Senator Releston's telephone.

Playing the part of Cranston, The Shadow paid no attention to the door on the far side of the living room. He paced nervously through the doorway of his own bedroom, carrying the telephone with him. He swung back toward the living room; stopped near the doorway and spoke quickly: ”h.e.l.lo. Senator Releston's apartment?... This is Mr. Cranston... Yes, Lamont Cranston... Certainly, I wish to speak with the senator. Immediately!

It is urgent...”

While talking, The Shadow swung farther into the darkened bedroom. His voice told that he was not far beyond the connecting doorway; so did the taut extension cord to which the telephone was attached.

Ears heard The Shadow's voice; eyes saw the drawn cord. There was a result from the far corner of the living room.

The distant door connecting with the next suite opened. An angled figure came into view. Body crouched forward, but with shoulders erect, the intruder used a peculiar mode of stealth as he crept across the living room.

The lights of the living room revealed the approacher's face. The man from the next room was Frederick Bryland!

THE ex-major did not advance far. His position was a strategic one; near the middle of the room, he could go farther or retire as he chose. Bryland was waiting to hear the rest of The Shadow's conversation. His next move would depend upon what the supposed Cranston told Senator Releston.

There was a half-minute pause while Bryland waited; then the voice of Cranston, beyond the bedroom doorway. Bryland drew a big service revolver from his hip pocket, gestured the weapon forward. ”h.e.l.lo, senator,” he heard The Shadow say. ”Yes, this is Cranston...

Calling from my hotel... No, I do not intend to leave for New York. I have received a threat. A note, here in my room. One moment I shall read it to you...”

Bryland was crouched no longer. With a long, swift bound, he reached the doorway to the bedroom. Stopping short, he twisted toward the darkened spot where he was sure The Shadow stood. Even while he swung, Bryland opened fire with his big six-shooter.

Those shots were murderous. They showed the efficiency of Bryland's army training. While on the move, Bryland had estimated the exact limit of the field where The Shadow would be. He covered that narrowed s.p.a.ce, seeking a hidden target, just as he had once picked out rebel snipers in the jungles of Nicaragua.

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