The Road Of Crime s-39

by Maxwell Grant

  Graham glanced, quickly toward Sheriff Taussig. The officer did not have a gun in readiness. Graham looked toward the door of the study. He knew that the room had another outlet. A wild desire to escape came over him.

  WHILE Graham instinctively moved toward the study, trying to resist the action which would certainly incriminate him, Harwin Dowser issued a loud command. Instantly four masked men leaped into view at the wide archway which led from living room to hall. The men were holding revolvers; they covered Graham Wellerton.

  “Who are these men?” demanded Sheriff Taussig, leaping to his feet.

  “Vigilantes,” responded Harwin Dowser sternly. “I summoned them here after you left to get Wellerton.”

  “Why?” questioned Taussig sharply.

  “It was necessary,” explained Dowser. “Delkin talked a bit about his daughter’s disappearance. People called me on the telephone. They were going to seize Wellerton.”

  “You did not inform me of that.”

  “No; but new calls came just after you went out. I told the vigilantes to come here; that you were bringing Wellerton. Do not worry, sheriff. These men are on the side of the law. They will obey you. Perhaps their presence will make Wellerton confess more readily.”

  “Confess to what?” demanded Graham.

  “To the abduction of my daughter!” cried Delkin.

  Graham looked toward the door. The crowd of vigilantes had increased to eight. He decided that there must be more men outside. With nerves tingling, the young man planned to meet the situation.

  “I do not know what has become of Eunice,” he declared. “I have not seen her since I visited Delkin’s home; Ralph Delkin says that I am a crook. He offers no proof. That settles the matter. Sheriff” - Graham faced Taussig squarely - “I expect you to accompany me back to my own home, where you found me.”

  As Taussig deliberated, Harwin Dowser intervened. The old lawyer held up a hand to signify that no one should move. He walked toward the hallway; the vigilantes parted. Dowser beckoned. Carma appeared in view!

  “Do you know this woman?” demanded the lawyer.

  “She claims to be my wife,” retorted Graham.

  “I am your wife,” sneered Carma. “You are a crook - and I can tell the truth about you.”

  With sudden decision, Graham came forth with a denial. He faced the woman and hurled back a challenge to her.

  “You are talking of the past,” he declared. “Let me see you prove the past. Prove that I engaged in crime. Prove that you are married to me. This woman holds a grudge against me” - Graham turned to Taussig as he spoke - “and her word is insufficient to incriminate me.”

  Harwin Dowser, standing near the vigilantes, uttered a chuckle. His tone became a laugh. He glared at Graham Wellerton with contempt.

  “You want more proof?” he questioned. “You want corroborating testimony? You shall have it. Set a thief to catch a thief. Here you are!”

  The masked vigilantes parted. Another man stepped into view. This time, Graham Wellerton stared in dumfoundment. The new witness whom Harwin Dowser had summoned was Wolf Daggert. Leering, the yellow gangster was face to face with Graham Wellerton.

  Eyes were peering from the study door; eyes that even Graham Wellerton did not observe. The Shadow was a silent witness to this amazing scene!

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE SHADOW’S DEED

  THE door of Harwin Dowser’s study closed completely. A tiny flashlight glimmered in the darkened room. A disk of illumination, no larger than a silver dollar, formed a spot upon the door of the old-fashioned safe that stood in the corner.

  A black hand grasped the dial. Fingers, working a combination that was evidently known to the brain which guided them, completed the work. The door of the safe opened; The Shadow’s keen eyes perceived a long envelope which lay close at hand.

  The envelope disappeared into the darkness. Several seconds elapsed before it was returned. A soft laugh was caught within the close-walled room. The light went out; The Shadow moved away.

  The course of his stealthy tread took him through a side door of the study. From the rear of the hallway, The Shadow could glimpse the armed men in the archway at the opening of the living room.

  Unseen, The Shadow turned through a narrow opening. His flashlight glimmered upon the knob of a door. Silently, The Shadow opened the barrier and descended a flight of stairs. His light was no longer at work, his steps were noiseless, even when they reached the stone flooring of the basement.

  In a remote portion of the large cellar, The Shadow stopped as he reached an opening in the wall. Before him lay a stone compartment; beyond it was a sheet-metal door that bore a huge padlock. Two men were in view, seated upon overturned boxes. Both were roughly clad; both were watchful in the gloomy light that came from a single electric bulb.

  One of the men arose. Strolling back and forth, he neared the fringe of darkness by the opening where The Shadow stood. The other man was not observing his companion.

  A long streak of blackness crept along the floor. The standing man saw it; he turned toward the opening. Two long arms shot out and caught the fellow by the throat. Like a rat between a terrier’s teeth, the ruffian was whisked into darkness.

  The seated man lighted a cigarette. Holding out the package, he looked for his companion. He wondered where the other had gone. Listening, he fancied that he heard a noise. He arose and drew forth a flashlight. As he neared the opening in the wall, he turned on the torch.

  The glare revealed a tall approaching figure. Sparkling eyes reflected the flashlight’s glare. Before the startled man could realize what the phenomenon meant, a phantom shape shot forward and materialized itself into a dynamic fighting force. The second ruffian went down beneath The Shadow’s onslaught. He, too, was dragged into the darkness beyond.

  The quickness of these events had been incredible. The Shadow reappeared and swept across the lighted compartment. A tiny instrument of steel appeared in his black-gloved hand. At the first attempt, The Shadow picked the padlock on the door.

  The barrier swung wide. As the light flickered into the room beyond, The Shadow moved swiftly back by the path which had brought him here. Lost in the darkness beyond the opening in the wall, he paused to deliver a whispered utterance - a strange, uncanny summons that carried a note of command.

  The black cloak swished as The Shadow retraced his steps toward the stairs that led upward. The two men whom he had overcome, now lying bound beside the cellar wall, heard the faint echoes of a mysterious whispered laugh.

  IN the upstairs living room, Graham Wellerton was facing the sneering glares of Carma Urstead and Wolf Daggert. The woman had told her story. Wolf was corroborating the tale.

  “Sure,” the yellow gangster was declaring. “this guy is phony. He worked for King Furzman - the big shot back in New York. His mob throwed him out - they were the bozos who were tryin’ to rob old Talboy when he butted in.”

  “Hear him, sheriff,” suggested Graham. “This man is incriminating himself.”

  “I ain’t talkin’ about myself,” snarled Wolf. “I’m talkin’ about this guy - Wellerton - the bank robber.”

  “Let me explain the matter,” suggested Dowser, turning to Sheriff Taussig. “Shortly after Wellerton came into his uncle’s estate, this man Daggert appeared here at my home. He stated that Wellerton was a bank robber; that the men whom he killed at Ezra Talboy’s home were his old cronies.

  “Daggert admitted that he had been connected with the group. He said that he had remained in hiding at a farmhouse several miles outside of Southwark - the old deserted place on the Surreyville road. It was through Daggert that I learned of Wellerton’s wife Carma, who was living in New York.

  “In order to learn the truth, I sent for the woman. She has been in town for several days. She is here to accuse Graham Wellerton of having deserted her.”

  Graham Wellerton stared. He knew now whom Carma had meant when she had said that a man in Southwark had sent for her
. He knew now that she was in league with Wolf Daggert, and that the skulking gang leader expected a share of the spoils.

  How had Wolf learned of Carma? Graham had never mentioned her name to Wolf.

  “You are listening to a conspiracy,” declared Graham, turning to the sheriff. “No proof is offered - merely a concerted attempt to ruin my reputation. Mr. Dowser has been deluded by these scoundrels. These statements are given by persons who admit their own unreliability.”

  “One moment,” asserted Dowser. “I take it, Wellerton, that you think there is no proof. I do not care for your opinion. It is Sheriff Taussig whom I intend to convince. Come this way - to my study. There you shall see evidence.”

  The vigilantes followed, covering Graham with their revolvers. Dowser, Taussig, and Delkin drew Graham along with them into the study, where the lawyer turned on the lights. Carma and Wolf followed. The masked guardians grouped themselves within the door.

  Harwin Dowser opened the safe. From it, he drew an envelope. He pulled back the flap and produced a folded paper. His sharp eyes were gleaming as he handed the document to Sheriff Taussig.

  “There,” declared Dowser emphatically, “you will find the proof of the first statement made. That is the marriage license, dated March the third, 1928, which pronounces Carma Urstead to be the wife of Graham Wellerton. That is the document which caused me to accept the woman’s story. This will in my pocket” - Dowser handed the new paper to Taussig - “goes with it, naming the woman as heiress to Graham Wellerton’s entire estate.”

  SHERIFF TAUSSIG opened the marriage license. He stared at it in perplexity. He raised his head and looked wonderingly about the group. His face became firm - and challenging.

  Harwin Dowser looked over the sheriff’s shoulder; Graham Wellerton, on the other side, did the same. A cry of amazement came from Graham’s lips. In one brief instant, complete understanding of a long-continued plot came to his mind.

  The marriage license which Sheriff Taussig was reading was not dated March 3, 1928. It was two years older than that, bearing the date of April 9, 1926. But that was not the astounding feature of the document. The names upon it were startling points.

  Carma Urstead was named, but Graham Wellerton was not. The man whose name was given in the marriage license was Willis Daggert - Wolf Daggert!

  With a cry of triumph, Graham Wellerton turned to throw his counter accusation against these two whose conspiring brains had thrust him into a life of crime.

  CHAPTER XXIII

  A NEW ALLY

  COMPLETE confidence ruled Graham Wellerton now. He felt that he had gained the point he needed - a startling piece of information that would enable him to place his past faults squarely upon those who were responsible.

  Ralph Delkin knew of Graham’s career of crime. To Delkin, Graham had stated facts concerning Carma Urstead. Now that the woman was proven as the wife of another man, Graham’s case was established so far as Delkin was concerned.

  Through Delkin, Graham felt that he could swing Sheriff Taussig; as for Harwin Dowser, the old lawyer would have to capitulate, now that his pet theories had been disturbed. Graham realized that Carma, actually the wife of Wolf Daggert, had married him by trickery. Then, conspiring with Wolf, she had forced Graham into crime to meet her demands for money.

  Evidently the woman had kept both marriage licenses: the bona fide one, which named her as the wife of Wolf Daggert; and the false, illegal document which named Graham Wellerton as her husband. Graham decided that there must have been a mistake; that Carma had inadvertently placed the first license in Dowser’s keeping.

  Carma was staring at the paper. The words she blurted forth merely served to prove the genuineness of the license which Sheriff Taussig was holding.

  “That’s the old one,” cried Carma. “My old license - which I left in New York! Someone must have stolen it and brought it here. It has been put in the safe instead of the one I gave to Mr. Dowser!”

  Sheriff Taussig was quick to catch the woman’s statement. He stared at Carma as he waved the paper which he held in his hand.

  “You mean you were married before you met Wellerton?” quizzed Taussig. “I see - married to this crook” - Taussig nudged his head at Wolf - “and working with him to put young Wellerton in bad. Well, I’m going to pinch both of you - and it will be lucky for you, woman, if that other license don’t show up.”

  The sheriff turned to the masked men at the door. With an air of authority, he addressed the vigilantes.

  “We don’t need you fellows,” asserted Taussig. “I’ll grab these two crooks. I’ll see that Wellerton sticks around until this whole matter is thrashed out.”

  “Hold on, sheriff!” announced Harwin Dowser. “We’re not through with Wellerton. yet. You forget why we brought him here. Delkin’s daughter is missing. Wellerton threatened Delkin. Just because you’ve spotted two crooks is no proof of Wellerton’s innocence. He is as bad as the others. We’ve got to find that girl!”

  Threatening tones came from the vigilantes at the door. Two men were advancing with drawn guns. Taussig stood stock-still. His revolver was in his pocket.

  “We’ve waited long enough,” growled one of the masked men. “We’re going to grab Wellerton and make him talk. He kidnaped the girl sure enough. He’s going to tell us where she is.”

  “Stay where you are!” ordered Taussig.

  “Nothing doing,” growled the vigilante. “We’re handling Wellerton from now on. If he don’t tell us what he’s done with the girl, we’ll string him up to a tree.”

  Graham Wellerton realized his helplessness. These vigilantes, like every group that dealt in lynch law, were probably men who did not care to waste time in listening to reason. The issue had been diverted. Sheriff Taussig intended to arrest Carma and Wolf. But that would not help Graham’s situation.

  Taussig was helpless; Delkin was horrified. There was only one man who might be able to appease the wrath of these masked vigilantes. That one was Dowser. Graham turned to the old lawyer in appeal.

  “This is your house,” he said. “You may have some authority over those who have come here. If these men will wait -“

  DOWSER’S warning hand seemed to hold back the vigilantes. They did not relax their tenseness. Four men in this room; four in the room beyond; all were ready with their revolvers. Dowser’s decision was all that they awaited.

  “Tell what you know, Wellerton,” suggested the old attorney. “If you can lead these men to Eunice Delkin, they will not harm you. Where is the girl?”

  “I don’t know,” blurted Graham.

  “You must tell,” insisted Dowser. “If Eunice Delkin is alive and well, your life will be spared. There is no one else in Southwark who would have had cause to steal her - no one but yourself. Where is she?”

  “I don’t know,” repeated Graham.

  “You’ve killed her, eh?” came the suggestion from the leading vigilante. “That’s why you’re keeping mum? Well - if that’s the case, we’ll string you up in a hurry!”

  Harwin Dowser shook his head sadly. Ralph Delkin, his face pale, was pleading with the masked men to use discretion. Ellis Taussig placed his hand upon his pocket.

  “If you grab Wellerton,” thundered the sheriff, “I’ll draw -“

  “Don’t!” warned Dowser. “These men would kill you, Taussig! If Wellerton will only speak and tell the truth, there is a chance for him.”

  “Help us out, Wellerton!” exclaimed the sheriff. “Do you know where the girl is? Can you give us any clew? We want to save your life. If only we could find a trace of Eunice Delkin and -“

  The sheriff’s tones ended. Taussig, his face registering astonishment, was staring toward the side door of the study. Someone was entering there, and as the figure came into the light, others, beside the sheriff, uttered cries of amazement.

  Coming into this room where death threatened, brought to this place just in time to avert a crisis, was Eunice Delkin!

  Pale, the girl was a
dvancing, her eyes filled with horror. She did not notice her father. She could see only Graham Wellerton, threatened by a group of armed masked men. With a sob, the girl sprang forward and threw her arms around Graham Wellerton. Dazedly, the young man realized that deliverance had arrived, then came a thought of gladness that brightened above all his worries.

  His past was cleared. Eunice Delkin had commended him for leaving paths of crime. He loved this girl; now that his marriage to Carma Urstead had been proven nonexistent, he would be free to tell Eunice of his love.

  The vigilantes would release him. Perhaps the penalties of past crimes could be avoided. Yet even a jail sentence seemed trivial in the knowledge which Graham Wellerton had gained. He knew now that Eunice Delkin loved him as he loved her.

  With the happy girl still sobbing in his arms, Graham turned to Harwin Dowser, confident that now the old lawyer could dismiss the threatening vigilantes. When he saw the expression in the attorney’s eyes, Graham Wellerton’s blood turned cold.

  Harwin Dowser had become a glaring fiend. His kindly mask had vanished. In one quick instant, Graham Wellerton realized that all this evil business had been of the old man’s making!

  CHAPTER XXIV

  GUNS SPEAK

  WHILE Graham Wellerton still stared at Harwin Dowser, Eunice Delkin realized that something was amiss. Drawing away from the man whose life she had saved, the girl saw her father and turned to him. As she told her story, she pointed an accusing finger at persons whom she named.

  “Harwin Dowser is responsible for my abduction!” exclaimed the girl. “He and these two!” Eunice indicated Wolf and Carma. “Last night, this woman called me on the telephone. She said that she was Graham Wellerton’s wife; that she would like to talk to me. I met her outside our house. The man was driving the car. They brought me here and imprisoned me.