The Shadow - 237 - Alibi Trail by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1941-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

He was being pressed to the extreme edge of the seat, while Jerry, using his gun left-handed, was taking control of the truck, in an expert fashion that showed him to be well trained at the particular task.

“So you were taking the back road,” sneered Jerry, “to keep out of heavy traffic. I like to keep out of traffic, too, and that’s why you found me hiking along. I pick up a lot of rides this way, and I look over the guys I meet. Some of them are smart enough to hand their dough over without an argument.”

Jerry’s face was in the light, a hard face, with very ugly eyes and a jaw as firm as Tim’s. The truck driver’s mouth was open, for he’d guessed who Jerry might be. There had been some bad smashes lately, trucks found overturned, their drivers dead. The theory was that they’d gone to sleep and let their trucks run off the road.

But Tim was seeing it differently. He visualized this man who used the alias of Jerry as a highwayman who killed to cover up his crimes. Possibly Tim was right, but there was another rider in the truck who was considering the matter from a different angle.

That rider was The Shadow.

He was debating whether or not Jerry belonged to the New York crew, and he decided in the negative.

It would have been easier for them to smuggle a few of their tribe on the truck, hidden away as The Shadow himself had been. This fellow, Jerry, was an independent in his own line, crime, just as Tim was in the honest business of trucking.

It was The Shadow’s turn to take over. Not only would he frustrate crime, but he would be introducing himself in a way that Tim would appreciate and remember. Afterward, Tim would certainly favor a gentleman named Cranston with certain information that the latter wanted.

THE truck reached a straightaway, with Jerry in control, though he hadn’t fully shifted into the driver’s seat. He was darting looks ahead, to pick a place where he could pull off the road; but he was meanwhile keeping the gun poked Jerry’s way, until a hand suddenly swung down from blackness and clamped the revolver, yanking it upward.

With a snarl, Jerry turned his head, saw Cranston’s face just over his shoulder. Another hand grabbed Jerry’s right, kept it to the wheel. Tim shifted back, to grab the wheel from the left side. All that Jerry had to work with was the accelerator, and he used it.

Lunging, the truck began a careening ride along the straightaway. Jerry was yanking it one way, Tim the other, with The Shadow holding the balance. He was sure he could get Tim back at the wheel before they reached the next curve; after that, he would subdue Jerry easily.

It would have been simpler if The Shadow had been wearing his habitual garb of black, for sight of such a figure would have quailed the fellow. But Jerry wasn’t

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