by Harlin, showing the position of the levers that controlled the big ladle.
"I think that this explains it," decided the coroner, with a nod. "With all
his carefulness, Grandy performed certain actions automatically. He was farther
forward than he realized. When he reached for the starting lever, he grasped the
tilting device instead."
"That's the way I saw it, coroner," assured the supervisor. "The diagram
bears out my explanation."
The coroner arose; he put Harlin's report into a briefcase: then passed
carbon sheets across the table to the supervisor. Other men were rising; The
Shadow saw them pause. One of the officials had a query.
"Tell us this, coroner," he asked, in troubled tone. "Do you connect this
accident with the other disasters that have occurred in Hampstead?"
Emphatically, the coroner shook his head.
"But they look like sabotage," persisted the official. "This is the fourth
accident; and every one brought heavy property damage along with its toll of
life."
The coroner reached in his briefcase and brought out some sheets of yellow
paper. He passed them across the table.
"File those with your own duplicate report," he suggested. "They give the
details of the explosion at the dye works, the smash-ups in the railroad yards.
Compare them with the disaster here. You'll see that I am right. In not one
instance, was there any outside factor.
"I've had lots of experience, gentlemen. Sometimes accidental deaths are
uncanny. Like an epidemic, you might say. A year - two years - no trouble; then
they hit in a bunch. That doesn't mean a thing, unless there's proof that some
one was culpable or negligent. Not one of these cases shows any such
indications."
HARLIN had taken the duplicate sheets. The Shadow saw the supervisor place
them in a table drawer. Then it was time to step away; for the men were coming
toward the door. The Shadow swung to a darkened corner; when the door opened, it
moved outward and covered him completely.
Harlin was the last man from the office. He waited while the others went
down the stairs to the lighted entry at the bottom. Then the supervisor clicked
off the office light. The top landing was dark when he closed the door and
locked it. Harlin had no chance to see The Shadow.
Soon after the supervisor's footsteps had faded, a tiny flashlight shone
upon the office door. Its glow was but twice the size of the keyhole; but it was
sufficient for The Shadow to work upon the lock. A gloved hand introduced a long
thin instrument that resembled a pair of pliers. A click came from the lock. The
Shadow opened the office door.
Using his flashlight within the office, The Shadow found the drawer that
contained the report sheets. He spread the duplicate papers and began a close
study of past events in Hampstead. The Shadow soon learned that the coroner's
claims were well supported.
The boiler blast at the dye plant had occurred shortly after a routine
inspection. The cause had evidently been the failure of a worn safety valve. The
engineer had made the inspection himself; he was a man of long service, who
would not have omitted an essential detail; nor have been so foolish as to
