The Adventures of Dr. Shadows, Book 1: The Eye of Darkness

by Teel James Glenn

Chapter Three: Masques and Marauders

  On the first night out of Hong Kong the Canadian Pacific Steamships, the line that owned the Empress of Japan, held a costume ball to allow the passengers to step out of their normal lives and give over to the magic of the ocean voyage as fantasy. For just under a fortnight they would be a city unto themselves with only two stops in Japan. The crew prided themselves on making it a special experience for each passenger regardless of which of the four classes of accommodations in which they were traveling.

  Dr. Shadows stood at the doorway of the first class ballroom attired in cutaway blue military jacket, white trousers, boots, wooden painted sword, and bicorn hat. He was the image of an elongated Napoleon, and the thought of it made him grin as he stood surveying the ballroom.

  The room was full with panoply of color and character: Robin Hoods, Cossacks, cowboys, pharaohs, pirates, and princesses in profusion. There were even two other Napoleons in attendance though he felt his was the most creative.

  A seven-piece band played a slow dance version of Tommy Dorsey’s “Dipsy Doodle.”

  “Is this dance slow enough for your dance card, meine Emperor?” A stunning Cleopatra stepped up to the domino-masked faux-Corsican.

  “I think you have a little Sadie Hawkins in you, Miss Von Shultz.” Dr. Shadows said.

  She inclined her head to one side with a curious expression at his comment.

  “An American newspaper strip character from a strip called Lil’ Abner,” he said taking her hand, “who is forward and demonstrative of her affections.”

  “Am I so forward?” she asked as the two of them stepped out onto the dance floor, and she gathered up the bottom of her long golden gown over one arm to keep from tripping.

  “Refreshingly so,” he said. “Don’t you know we Americans admire a ‘can do’ attitude?” The two were swept up into the flow of the dancers, and she rested her black wig-covered head against his muscular chest. “You smell very exotic,” he said.

  “My Jasmine blend is but one tiny part of my wiles, Herr Doktor.”

  The American kept his eyes on the crowd around the floor.

  Off to one side he saw Professor Gordon in his wheelchair dressed as Lord Nelson with a cardboard form of a battleship cleverly attached to the chair. Beside him stood Nyoka as a bowler-hatted Charlie Chaplin.

  “You don’t seem like the sort of man who needs a forward woman to find companionship, Herr Shadows.” She spoke in a throaty whisper that had just a hint of a Teutonic accent that gives it an exotic sound.

  “I like to think that it makes life simpler to not have to guess.” He looked down at the attractive woman in his arms and noticed the medallion hanging around her neck as part of her elaborate necklace of beads and costume jewelry.

  “Are you sure hiding the medallion in plain sight is the best solution to security?”

  “You really are an alarmist, as the Japanese says.” She took a breath. “We are on the high seas,” she said. “Some house burglar in Hong Kong is not going to bother us out here.”

  “But you have the rest of the exhibit in the hold of this ship. All the stone tablets, statues, the translations your group has managed so far, and those medallions. It is a tempting tidbit for a thief.”

  “Where could a thief go if they stole anything on a ship at sea?” she said. “You have to learn to relax.” She snuggled her head into his chest and made a purring sound.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he said, “but old hound dogs have to hunt, and I guess I really am a law dog.”

  She giggled into the blue wool of his jacket. “You American’s do amazing things with your own language. No wonder the British think you all mad!”

  He laughed at that. “As a hatter, one and all,” he said.

  The song ended and Napoleon and Cleopatra walked across the field of history to stand with the Gordons, father and daughter.

  “I see you made it,” Henry Gordon said.

  “Good evening, Professor, Miss Gordon,” Dr. Shadows said. The two men nodded a hello but Nyoka stared daggers at Lila and her “hello” was a tight lipped one.

  “Where is your brother, Miss Von Schultz?” Dr. Shadows asked.

  “Oh please, you must call me Lila,” she said. She made a point of smiling warmly at Nyoka. “After all, we’ve been so close.”

  “And I’m the one dressed as the little tramp!” Nyoka said under her breath.

  “Very well then, Lila,” he said trying to keep from snickering. He glanced over at Nyoka and could all but feel the chill coming off her. “I’m surprised Gunter is not here to supervise your safety.” She tittered at the suggestion.

  “Oh I’m a big girl, Herr Doktor. I can take care of myself.”

  “But it is still good to have your big brother nearby, darling Lila,” a head-to-foot wrapped mummy stepped from the crowd of revelers nearby.

  The blonde woman laughed and when the other scientist realized who had stepped into their midst they joined in.

  “Gunter!” Lila said. “When you told me you would not tell me your costume—I never imagined you hiding your pretty face!”

  “I thought the Queen of the Nile should have an eternal bodyguard.” The ‘Gunter mummy’ had a martini in his hand and sipped it through a mouth hole in the head wrap. “I am scary, yawh?”

  “No,” Nyoka said with a giggle. “You are too much of a teddy bear to be scary, Gunter; I could never be afraid of you.” He grabbed her hand, clicked his bandaged heels together and leaned forward to kiss the back of her hand with a comically formal gesture.

  “And you are a very lovely hobo, Fraulein Gordon.”

  Lila glared back at Nyoka, and the American criminalist watched all the reactions with a slight grin on his face.

  Abruptly Lila screamed as she was thrown to the floor by a comic opera bearded-pirate who ran through the group. The racing buccaneer snatched the jewelry from the German girl’s neck and was into the crowd of startled partygoers before most realized what had happened. Except the granite man.

  Dr. Shadows sprinted after the thief darting through the dancing crowd like a broken field runner. The pirate, in flowing shirt and vertically striped trousers, made it out the door of the ballroom to the promenade deck of the ship and cut to the left.

  The American followed on the slick deck, the rented riding boots barely giving him traction. He kept the fleeing man in sight as he raced around a corner and up a flight of metal stairs to the top deck. He was barely a yard behind the criminal when the pirate turned to kick back at him.

  The pirate’s boot slammed into the Dr. Shadows’ chest, and the American tumbled backward down the companionway. He hit hard enough to knock the wind out of the granite man, leaving him stunned on the ground.

  By the time Dr. Shadows had recovered enough to pursue again there were others from the ballroom joining him. They all sprang up the stairs, but the upper deck was empty when they got there.

  “Did you get him?” Lila asked. She was seated by the side of the dance floor with an icepack on her neck where a nasty red pressure burn was visible where the necklace had been torn from her throat.

  “No,” the granite man said, disgusted with himself. “This tendency of mine to get my butt kicked by running thieves is going to ruin my reputation as a pulp magazine hero back home. Captain Kidd made it up to the top deck and was gone before we could get him. This was all we found.” He held up a false beard that had obscured most of the faux freebooter’s face. “He could be anywhere on the ship, be anyone, once he ditches that comic opera costume.”

  “I vil find him and kill him!” Gunter snarled. He had pulled his bandages from his face and presented a bizarre image as he knelt beside his sister holding her hand.

  “I don’t think there is any doubt now that the medallions are the reason for all the misery of Chan’s death. Now this,” Professor Gordon said.

  “What seems to be the commotion?” Professor Yamashita said as he walked through the crowd. He was dressed in ac
ademic robes. He was florid faced and out of breath. “I heard yelling and hurried up from below decks.” He saw Lila’s neck and gasped.

  “Miss Von Shultz!” He bent down to examine her wound. “Are you alright?”

  She tried a smile, but it was weak. “I will survive,” she whispered. “Thank you for your concern, Professor.”

  “A thief got her medallion,” Nyoka said. “He was dressed like a pirate.”

  “I think that will be pretty useless as a description,” Dr. Shadows said. “It could be anyone of average height.”

  “But why steal something so publicly on a ship?” Nyoka asked.

  “It is small enough to conceal almost anywhere,” Gunter said, “and if it was planned, whoever took it must have a place prepared. It would be useless to search.”

  “I think it is urgent to be sure your medallion is safe, Professor,” Dr. Shadows said. “Do you have it on you?”

  “Of course not,” the Japanese said. “I have it safely in my cabin.”

  “Do you?” the American said. “Are you sure?”

  “I resent your implications, Mister Shadows. I said it was safe.”

  “It was when you left your cabin, perhaps,” the granite man said, “but I think it would be prudent to secure it and place it in the purser’s safe.”

  “I have heard of you, Mister Shadows.” The Japanese nobleman made a not so subtle insult of not using the American’s title. “Your reputation in China and the east has made it clear you do not like the Japanese people.”

  “I have a problem with the military ambitions of your leaders and think that what they are doing in Manchuria is nothing short of monstrous, Baron Yamashita, but I have a great respect for the people and culture of your homeland.”

  The Japanese looked into the eyes of the American for a long slice of time, and then around him at the other members of the group with suspicious eyes.

  “It does make sense, Ishi,” Doctor Gordon said. “I think we should go get it and take it to the safe right now—we have no idea where this madman is.”

  The oriental agreed with his friend and the members of the expedition along with the American sleuth left the ballroom with a ship’s officer to go to Yamashita’s cabin.

  “I will not have you in my cabin,” the professor said. “There are certain privacies that must be observed.” He turned the lock and opened the door to step in, but the ship’s officer put a hand on the door.

  “Excuse me, sir,” the officer said, “but what is that?”

  Clearly visible on the edge of the bed was a loose pirate shirt that matched the one the thief had worn earlier.

  “Vas es dos?” Gunter pushed back the door and forced his way past the older man, snatching the shirt off the bed. Beneath it was the stolen medallion!