Part 5 (1/2)
”We have a dead man here,” stated Barth, pointing to Valdan's body. ”Apparently, he had climbed up that ladder when something overcame him. Do you believe, doctor, that he could have succ.u.mbed to this same mysterious malady that has affected those two guinea pigs?”
”Certainly,” responded Lagwood, promptly. ”There is every indication of it. The fact, however, would be difficult to prove.”
”Why so?”
”Because the victim is dead. We may a.s.sume, however, that he was overcome simultaneously with the guinea pigs. My belief is based upon last night's occurrence. Had any of those victims at Tanning's been upon a ladder, they would have fallen in the same manner as this man.”
”Then you believe that the death was accidental?”
”In a sense yes. In a sense no.” The physician's long face showed a furrowed smile at his own paradoxical statement. ”I should say that the fall from the ladder was accidental. But I cannot speak for the condition which induced that fall. You are faced by the same problem that you found at Tanning's.”
”That's right,” a.s.serted Joe Cardona. ”Commissioner, I've got a theory about last night. Four people going out all at once. It must have been some gas that knocked them out.” He turned to Lagwood.
”What's your opinion on that, doctor?”
”I had the same idea,” responded Lagwood, seriously. ”In fact, I had planned to try vapor treatments in an endeavor to neutralize the blood conditions of the patients. But my observations in this laboratory lead me to believe that we may be concerned with some amazingly virulent bacillus, not with a noxious gas.”
”That sounds incredible!” exclaimed Barth. ”Last night, four persons were overcome simultaneously. Here we have the evidence of the guinea pigs, to indicate that Valdan was overcome by the same cause.
Cardona may be right, doctor. A gas -”
”What of these guinea pigs?” interposed Lagwood, indicating the crate upon the floor.
A SMILE showed upon Lamont Cranston's lips as Barth and Cardona turned toward the crate.
Commissioner and detective had forgotten all about the s.h.i.+pment that had been delivered. The guinea pigs in the crate were all alive.
”The hypothesis of a poison gas,” stated Lagwood, ”is one that I now find it necessary to reject. I shall, however, make experiments upon one of these rigid guinea pigs, utilizing a vapor as a neutralizer.
”But it is evident that a poison gas, loosed in this closed room, would have had effect upon all life simultaneously. None of the rodents in this crate show any signs of lethargy. Besides that, commissioner, there is another point to be considered. How soon after death was the body discovered?”
”Almost immediately,” replied Barth.
”Was the door of this room opened or closed?” questioned Lagwood.
”Closed,” stated Barth. ”Valdan's a.s.sistant opened it and entered with the servant.”
”Did either of them experience any dizziness?” ”They made no statements of that sort.”
”Which proves,” concluded Lagwood, ”that no noxious gas was present. In this small room - with no open windows - the atmosphere could not have cleared before those persons arrived.”
”That is true,” agreed Barth. ”Tell us, doctor, what would you propose as the next step?”
”For my own part,” responded Lagwood, emphatically, ”I should like to return to the hospital and begin experiments upon these guinea pigs at once. This dead man is a problem for the police. My duty is to consider the welfare of four who are still alive.”
”You are right,” said the commissioner. ”Cardona, call a cab for Doctor Lagwood. Tie up that box with the two guinea pigs. Human lives are still at stake.”
The specialist departed with the guinea pigs boxed beneath his arm. The commissioner seated himself at Valdan's table and began to strum upon the woodwork while Cranston looked quietly about the room.
”A new quiz may bring the answer,” speculated the commissioner. ”Either Benzig or Crowder could have been in this room. Their meeting upstairs did not take place until some time after Benzig claims to have left here.
”Benzig might have remained; or Crowder might have been hidden in that closet. Benzig could have taken the newspaper; or Crowder could have failed to place it here. The hidden man could have attacked Valdan; then unbolted this door and left. Do you follow me, Cranston?”
”Yes,” came the quiet reply.
”Leaving, the murderer could have unbolted the outer door to make it appear that someone had fled.”
Barth was picturing a scene involving one of Valdan's employees. ”The delivery men could hardly have had anything to do with Valdan's death. Why should they have made two trips here?”
This time, Cranston had no reply. He glanced at his watch and appeared surprised at the lateness of the hour. Barth sensed that his friend was anxious to leave. He arose from his chair.
”I can come back to the club by cab,” declared Barth. ”I doubt that the coming quiz would be of but little interest to you, Cranston. Should you care to learn about them, I can tell you of our findings when I see you at the club.”
”Very well,” agreed Cranston. ”I believe that it would be best for me to leave, commissioner.”
FIVE minutes later, Lamont Cranston's limousine rolled away from the home of Troxton Valdan. After a southward trip, it turned into a secluded side street. Stanley parked at his master's bidding. A blackened form emerged silently from the rear door.
The light clicked in The Shadow's sanctum. Hands appeared beneath the bluish glow. A soft laugh sounded as deft fingers began to inscribe written thoughts that faded in mysterious fas.h.i.+on. The Shadow was considering facts that he had noted at Troxton Valdan's.
Valdan. Guinea pigs.
To Commissioner Wainwright Barth, this written statement would have meant the connection that had been discussed with Doctor Seton Lagwood: namely, the simultaneous overpowering of the chemist and the rodents in the box upon the table. To The Shadow, however, it inspired a new deduction. Why had Troxton Valdan kept guinea pigs in his little laboratory? Obviously for experimental purposes.
Benzig had not been surprised at the delivery of a fresh supply. Therefore, The Shadow knew that Valdan must have been gradually eliminating the cavies that he kept on hand.
This indicated that Valdan himself had applied the paralytic treatment to the two guinea pigs in the cardboard box. The chemist was not a victim of the death sleep. The living guinea pigs proved that fact.
Instead, Valdan, with his secret experiments, was logically the discoverer of the gas that produced a rigid slumber!
Delivery men.
Two visits. Again, The Shadow laughed softly. He could see the purpose. Yesterday, men had come with boxes. Benzig had gone upstairs while they were in the laboratory. The men had taken the boxes away. But they had left one of the three and taken another in its place. They had stolen the complete supply of gas containers that Troxton Valdan had concealed beneath the table in his little laboratory!
Cardona had found a box with pieces of pipe inside it. Beside the box, a carpeting that had served to hide it from view. The box with its useless contents had meant nothing to Cardona; but it had meant much to Troxton Valdan. Opening the box, the returned chemist had learned that his precious chemicals had been stolen!
The newspaper.
The Shadow combined this new thought with an unfinished one - the matter of the second appearance of the delivery men. The first visit had been to accomplish theft. The second, to offset Valdan's discovery.
Last night, Valdan's gas had been tested. Seth Tanning and three others were the victims.
Today, Valdan was due to return. There was only one course open to men of crime. Valdan had to be silenced - forever. The second delivery - the crate of guinea pigs - had been a blind to enable a killer to conceal himself in the closet of the inner laboratory, there to await the return of Troxton Valdan.
Someone - either the killer or a member of the crew - had seen the newspaper upon Valdan's table. That journal had been removed. This was proof that someone in the crew - probably the killer - knew the contents of the box that had been stolen on the previous day. That same man might have been the one who had precipitated a gas bomb into Seth Tanning's apartment.
The murderer.