The Shadow - 214 - The Green Terror by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1940-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

“That sounds phony.”

“Yeah?” Slasher’s voice was shrill. “Here’s something else that’s phony. I notice there’s no mirrors in this room! There used to be half a dozen.

“Why did you get rid of ‘em? Afraid they might turn blood-red and give you away?”

Bokin lost some of his calm. He sounded flustered when he replied.

“The mirrors were stolen yesterday. Somebody got into the house while Terry and myself were away. He stole every mirror in the place. He must have been a nut.”

“A smart nut,” Slasher sneered. “What about your burglar-alarm system?”

“The guy must have had a key. Terry said he found scratches on the lock of the back door.”

“And you haven’t got the box?”

“So help me!”

Bokin’s voice didn’t carry much conviction, but Slasher let the argument pass. He came back to his original demand. What did Bokin want?

“I want you to team up with me,” Bokin said. “I don’t have to tell you that I did business with Morello -

good business. Now Morello’s gone. You’re ambitious, Slasher. You always hated Morello’s guts.

You’ve schemed for years to wipe him out and take over. Well, you can - if you’re smart.”

“How smart?”

“Smart enough to make Hilbert spill everything he knows about the whereabouts of that lead box. You admit you got him a prisoner somewhere and that you went to work on him. Why didn’t he talk?”

“I went to work on him too hard,” Slasher admitted. “He confessed that he had designed the box and its contents, but he claimed the fear ray was an accident. The thing was supposed to be a portable television set.

“Hilbert doesn’t know what error he made that produced the green ray. He swears the invention is a mystery to him. He doesn’t know how to duplicate it. It has something to do with quicksilver - mercury, he called it.”

Slasher scowled as he continued.

“HILBERT said he took the box to some guy for financial backing. He thought it might be a honey of a device to use in modern warfare. Knock whole armies cockeyed with terror, then disarm and capture them. But the guy he went to had other ideas. He saw crime possibilities! He persuaded Hilbert he was a sucker not to use the green ray for big dough.”

“So Hilbert tried it out at the Coastal Bank. He picked French’s safe-deposit box for the tryout, because the guy he made the deal with told Hilbert he was interested in something that French had in that box.”

“Who is the guy?” Bokin growled. “Why didn’t you make Hilbert squeal?” “I tried to,” Slasher growled.

“It didn’t do no good. Hilbert was more scared of his boss than he was of my torture. I gave him plenty!

He got me so damned mad I overdid it. The mug passed out. When I revived him, Hilbert was delirious.

He’s still out of his mind. And I still don’t know who his boss is - the guy who has that lead box right now.”

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