The Shadow - Seven Drops Of Blood Part 12

The Shadow preferred to wait until another day had pa.s.sed.

Summarizing the episode at Tatterman's little store, The Shadow saw plainly what a master crook had attempted; he also knew just how much the hidden criminal had accomplished. The supercrook had counted upon two results; he had gained only one.

The crime master had planned one more victim: to complete his course, he needed the death of Spark Lethro. To kill the bomb-setter was easy, for Spark did not suspect the big-shot's purpose. To put Spark's death to special advantage, the master crook had planned a way to pit the bomb-setter against The Shadow. The trap at Tatterman's was the result.

Though he had hoped to claim both victims, the big-shot had counted upon getting one if the other survived. Probably the master crook would have preferred the elimination of The Shadow. He at least had solace in the fact that Spark was gone. Also, he could comfort himself upon The Shadow's failure to drag Spark from the ruins. Spark, sixth of the half dozen whom the big-shot had doomed, had failed to divulge the name of the chief who ruled him.

The Shadow was the only threat remaining.

Knowing that, The Shadow had decided to disappear again from view. He did not want the game to be delayed. By dropping from sight, he was giving his enemy leeway. The Shadow would be ready when the master crook prepared a final move.

WHEN morning arrived, The Shadow read the newspaper accounts of the explosion at Tatterman's. Breakfasting as Henry Arnaud, The Shadow looked like any other guest at the hotel. All who had newspapers were interested in the accounts of the latest crime that involved the Seven Drops of Blood.

The Shadow remained at the hotel all morning. Lunchtime brought the early evening newspapers. They declared that the ruby reclaimed from Spark Lethro was genuine. Experts had examined it and tested it; they announced that it was the sixth of the seven stolen stones.

There was another item that interested The Shadow. Tatterman, arriving in New York, had reported promptly to the police. The jeweler had been called out of town by a telegram from Philadelphia. Like the ones attributed to Berkland, in Boston, that wire was a faked one.

The police had definitely proven the fact. Their theory was that Spark had seen to the details of sending the counterfeit telegrams. The Shadow conceded that the theory was right. Spark was the man who handled last night's trap.The chances were that the big-shot had given Spark the entire job.

The Shadow left the hotel soon after lunch. When he returned for dinner at half past six, he heard newsboys shouting wildly all along the street. The Shadow bought an extra hot from the press. Its headlines bore an announcement which The Shadow had antic.i.p.ated.

The seventh of the stolen rubies was found.

Entering the hotel dining room. The Shadow ordered dinner; then read the details. The smile that showed upon the lips of Henry Arnaud was significant.

Not only did The Shadow find certain of his own theories established, he was also intrigued by the ingenious way in which the master crook had returned the seventh Drop of Blood. He had done it in a manner that left no trace.

ALL day, the police had been burrowing in the ruins of Tatterman's store.

They had reached the jeweler's safe and had found it intact. The steel box had been taken by truck to headquarters.

Tatterman was naturally pleased to learn that his safe was unopened. He went to headquarters, unlocked the safe and took an inventory of its contents.

Among these were some small jewel cases that belonged to customers. Tatterman kept them all together and seldom opened them. On this occasion, he looked into the cases, at the request of the police.

In one small case, just large enough to hold a finger ring, Tatterman found a s.h.i.+ning red stone neatly mounted on the green velvet interior. The jeweler recognized the gem immediately; so did Joe Cardona and others who were present. The stone was a ruby, the seventh Drop of Blood.

At first, the police thought that Spark Lethro might have opened the safe and stowed the little jewel case in it. That idea was dropped. As a cracksman, Spark had always depended upon dynamite in the form of "soup"; he lacked the velvety touch needed to open a safe by fingering the combination. The law looked for another answer - and Tatterman supplied it.

The jeweler remembered that he had left some jewel cases on his desk when he went into the front of the store to see a customer. That had been early yesterday. When Tatterman returned to the office, he had put the cases away.

Undoubtedly, someone had entered the office by the rear panel, during Tatterman's absence. That person had placed the extra jewel case with the others.

This theory suited The Shadow. To it, he added an opinion of his own. The incident had occurred before noon, the day before. The man who added the extra jewel case was certainly the supercrook. That was one job that he would not have entrusted to Spark Lethro.

Therefore, Tatterman had been fortunate. Unquestionably, the supercrook must have remained at the secret panel to make sure that Tatterman did not discover the ruby. Had the jeweler found the gem, the supercrook would have been forced to murder him. Luckily, such crime had not been necessary.

AFTER dinner, The Shadow showed no haste. He waited until nine o'clock, then bought the first edition of a next morning's newspaper. The Shadow expected to find new facts concerning the Seven Drops of Blood.

He was not disappointed. The ruby found at Tatterman's was as genuine as the other six. Tobias Berkland had turned it over to the International a.s.sociation of Jewelers. They had paid him for it as they had with the others.

More than that, tomorrow would mark the opening of the exposition at which the Seven Drops of Blood were to be displayed. The famous gems would be shown to the public, under conditions that would make it impossible for any crook tosteal them.

The newspaper contained a last-minute advertis.e.m.e.nt concerning the display. However much others might have suffered through the theft and return of the rubies, it was certain that the exposition would gain. Big gate receipts were predicted.

As for The Shadow, his wait was ended. He had acquired new facts.

Darkness had settled. He was ready for his postponed mission.

Leaving his hotel, he entered his cab, which was stationed a few blocks away. The Shadow rode to a spot near the abbreviated address that he had learned from the sapphire message.

There, The Shadow followed a narrow street and blended with the darkness of an old office building. This was a neighborhood where the old mingled with the new. A few apartment buildings had replaced more ancient structures. None, however, exceeded a dozen stories in height.

The office building was slated for removal, and was, therefore, poorly tenanted. It was closed for the night; if a watchman had been placed on duty, he was certainly lax on the job, for The Shadow saw no sign of him. Entering through a ground-floor window, The Shadow reached a stairway and went up to the roof.

Cloaked and hatted, The Shadow stood invisible when he reached the low rail that girded the roof. Even the glow of the city did not reach him, for it was stopped by the wall of another structure that adjoined the office building.

The adjacent building, was a half story taller than the one on which The Shadow stood.

Twelve feet across an open s.p.a.ce; ten feet above his head, The Shadow saw the dim leg of a water tower. The support offered what The Shadow wanted. He was prepared to make use of it.

From his cloak, he took a yellow object, four-bladed. It was a cross-shaped boomerang. The Shadow delivered a deft forearm throw. The boomerang whirred past the post of the water tank, disappeared momentarily, then returned lazily, coming back to The Shadow's hand.

Attached to the bladed device was a spindle; from it, a slender cord had unwound. The Shadow attached a wire to one end, pulled the other end and drew the wire around the post. Attaching both ends of the wire to the roof rail the cloaked adventurer began a climb to the roof of the next building. His hand carried clamps that tightened under pressure when he gripped the double wire.

REACHING his objective, The Shadow remained in darkness, for the other roof was topped by a wall that loomed at The Shadow's shoulder. Whitish stone was barely visible; against it, darkened squares of metal. Feeling one of these, The Shadow discovered it to be a heavy steel shutter.

With a little flashlight, The Shadow examined the fastenings. The steel barrier was held in place by heavy metal screws. Working upon them, The Shadow loosened the edge of one shutter and swung it outward. Inside, he detected the glisten of a window pane. He worked with the sash, unclamped it with a thin wedge of metal.

Raising the sash, The Shadow stepped across the sill. He found himself in a small room, with a door beyond.

Cautiously, The Shadow opened the door. He realized immediately that he had come through an empty storage room, for the lighted room ahead was a laboratory. It was equipped with an electric furnace, large retorts, huge pieces of machinery, fanciful in shape. One of these was close to the doorway.

As The Shadow stepped forward, there was a stir from behind the mechanism. Out from hiding leaped a long-limbed, wild-eyed man, whose white hair formed a shocky ma.s.s. The Shadow caught but a momentary glimpse of a hunted, tight-drawn face; then the attacker was upon him. Clawish hands gripped The Shadow's throat. The cloaked fighter was hurled back by the force of the old man's drive.

The Shadow had found Professor Antonius Hanlock - and the result was maddened battle.

Twisting from Hanlock's grasp, The Shadow went back into the darkness of the room that he had left. Hanlock must have possessed a catlike ability to see in the dark, along with his feline stealth; for he was quick to seek another grip upon The Shadow.

Blackness blanketed the fray. With hands that gripped like steel, The Shadow sought to wrench away the claws that clutched him. Two figures floundered back and forth, tripped and went rolling across the floor. There was a gargling sound, followed by silence.

Darkness covered the outcome. In the gloom of that storeroom, no observer could have told which was the victor. The Shadow had pitted his strength against a wild man's fury.

The future was to tell the consequences of that short, but hard-fought, fray.

CHAPTER XIX.

DROPS OF BLOOD.

EARLY the next evening, Joe Cardona visited the Cobalt Club, there to meet Commissioner Weston. Together, they rode in the commissioner's official car to the exposition hall housing the jewelers exhibit. Traffic was heavy as they rode along. It seemed that all Manhattan had headed for the exposition where the Seven Drops of Blood were on display.

"I am worried, Cardona," announced Weston, as they rode along. "I can't imagine what has happened to Cranston. I expected him to dine with me this evening and then go on to the exposition."

"Maybe he will see you there, commissioner."

"Possibly. I hope so. He wasn't at the club last night; and when I called his home today, they said he was away."

"Looks like he may have gone out of town."

"He said nothing about a trip when I talked with him, two nights ago. He usually mentions it when he intends to go away."

The car reached the exposition building; Weston and Cardona went through the formality of showing pa.s.ses, which was scarcely necessary, for they were recognized.

Once inside, they went to see the exhibit of jewelry. Nearing it, they found huge throngs in line. So many persons wanted to see the Seven Drops of Blood that arrangements had been made to keep back the crowd.

The pa.s.ses again proved useful. Weston and Cardona were admitted into the display. Guards were on duty, standing by long lines of showcases; but all the visitors were congregated at one end of the room. That was where the Seven Drops of Blood were on display. The rubies were the one attraction that the customers wanted to see. The exhibit was arranged close to the end wall, with a s.p.a.ce beyond it. That pa.s.sage was roped off, only privileged persons being allowed there. Commissioner Weston shouldered his way through to the back and Cardona kept close behind him. When they entered the roped s.p.a.ce, the first person they met was Tobias Berkland.

The oil magnate greeted them with a smile. He pointed over the ropes andremarked: "That's the way we should have kept the rubies at Pettigrew's. Look at the way these chaps have guarded them."

IN the center of a square stood a ma.s.sive steel box that a dozen men could not have lifted. It was low and wide, like a squatty pedestal. In its upper surface was a square hole, six inches across.

Beneath a thick sheet of bulletproof gla.s.s lay the Seven Drops of Blood.

The rubies glistened from their strong box. Unmounted, the stones rested upon a flat, ornamental plaque.

"They looked better in their original setting," remarked Berkland. "But I must say, that they are remarkably effective when separated. Each stone stands out with individual perfection. Do you know, commissioner, I am beginning to feel sorry that I parted with those gems."

There was another who overheard the remark. Lenore Berkland had come into the reserved s.p.a.ce. She shook her head sadly.

"I am not sorry, father," she said. "Those rubies have cost too many lives."

Berkland paid no attention to his daughter's remark.

Instead, he called Weston's attention to a feature of the steel case that held the rubies. It was equipped with hinged sheets of metal that could close over the gla.s.s from above; and up to the gla.s.s from beneath.

"They are controlled by photoelectric beams," remarked Berkland in an admiring tone. "If any hand should come within ten inches of the case, the beams will function. In addition, commissioner, the steel case is mounted on a special elevator, which can be dropped into a solid compartment under the floor."

Weston nodded. He had already heard the details of the device. The International a.s.sociation of Jewelers were taking no chances with the rubies that they had purchased. There was a point, however, that interested Weston.

He observed that, occasionally, the inside of the gla.s.s became clouded; then cleared. Weston asked Berkland about the matter.

"Ungler has some notes on that," remarked Berkland. "Where is Ungler?"

He looked about for the secretary, but did not see him. Excusing himself, Berkland went from behind the reserved s.p.a.ce. Another man stepped into view.

This arrival was Glen Mogridge. Berkland's brother-in-law chatted with Weston; then asked Lenore: "Where is Lawrence Woolford?"

"I expect him soon," replied Lenore, anxiously. "He said something about going to the theater, later."

Berkland was returning, followed by Ungler. The secretary showed Weston a typewritten sheet, which had come from the International a.s.sociation of Jewelers.

"This will be printed in an announcement by tomorrow," explained Ungler.

"You see, sir, the a.s.sociation thought that the public would be interested in the method by which the gems were proven genuine. There is an intermittent spray that pa.s.ses over the rubies, giving them an acid bath. That causes the cloudiness on the gla.s.s.

"All the while, the rubies are under great heat, which you can tell by the brilliance of the light about them. It serves as a heat test: and it also clears away the slight cloudiness that comes with each spray."

"Ingenious, isn't it, commissioner?" put in Berkland, who was standing beside Mogridge. "By the way, where is your friend Cranston? We were speakingabout him at dinner."

"I haven't seen Cranston," replied Weston. "Perhaps he will arrive later, Mr. Berkland."

THERE was a stir in the crowd that flanked the other three sides of the square s.p.a.ce. Joe Cardona heard a buzz of conversation; then saw the reason.

Coming through were some representatives of the exposition; with them was a dark-skinned man who wore a turban with his tuxedo. Ungler pointed to his notes.

"His name is Rahman Singh," informed the secretary. "He represents the present Maharajah of Bolopore, whose grandfather was the owner of the Seven Drops of Blood. Rahman Singh arrived by liner from England, today."

"Good publicity," remarked Mogridge, "having that Hindu come here. He looks rather old. I suppose he may have seen the rubies when they were owned by the first maharajah to possess them."

That proved to be the case. Rahman Singh was conducted behind the exhibit and introduced to Weston and the others. Solemnly, impa.s.sively, the Hindu eyed the rubies. Then, in perfect English, he said: "I have seen the Seven Drops of Blood. Once seen, those rubies can never be forgotten. Again, my eyes have viewed their splendid sparkle. Thank you, gentlemen, for this privilege."

With solemn bows, the Hindu departed, conducted by the men who had brought him. As he pa.s.sed the exit in the ropes, he brushed against a man who had arrived just in time to hear his statement. Cardona, noting Rahman Singh's departure, observed that the newcomer was Lawrence Woolford.

Lenore hurried over to speak to her fiancee. Cardona saw Woolford shake his head.

"Sorry, Lenore," he said. "Couldn't get any tickets to the show. How about taking in a movie, later?"

Lenore agreed; then remarked: "I can go home with father first. Come up to the house, Lawrence, and meet me there."

"All right," agreed Woolford. "I may be pretty late, though. Still, there's always a feature that goes on after midnight. Say, though, who was that Hindu who just went out of here?"

Lenore explained about Rahman Singh. Woolford chuckled, remarked that it was lucky the jewels were well guarded.

"I'll bet that Hindu would have liked to have those rubies," he declared.

"Those chaps hate to see any gems leave India. Well, Lenore, I'll see you later. I'm going to look around the exposition for a while."

CARDONA was pondering over what Woolford had said. It offered a new angle to the case that still kept Joe busy. At times, Cardona had jumped to wild theories regarding the ident.i.ty of the master criminal responsible for the theft of the rubies. He remembered how seven gunmen had staged their robberies wearing beards and turbans. If Rahman Singh had arrived in New York a few weeks earlier, Cardona might have regarded him as a candidate to be unmasked as a master crook.

But Cardona had sense enough to know that an important man from India could not have faked his presence in London, or managed to fake a steams.h.i.+p voyage from England.

Glen Mogridge had left the reserved s.p.a.ce. Tobias Berkland was ready todepart. Lenore waited while her father spoke to Ungler. The secretary showed Berkland some notes; after a short consultation, Berkland nodded. He went out with Lenore.