The Death Giver by Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson

Author:Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson [Grant, Maxwell & Gibson, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780515042825
Google: 9cy2AAAACAAJ
Amazon: 051504282X
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1933-05-15T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI. THE SHADOW WARNS

IRWIN LANGHORNE was seated in a little office on the second floor of his Manhattan home. His flat-topped desk, with its sheet of plate glass, reflected the glistening light of a heavy crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling above his head.

This room had once been a portion of a reception hall. A partition had been erected, but otherwise Langhorne had left the room very much as before. It was here that the millionaire importer attended to those details of work that escaped his office routine.

A stack of mail was lying on the desk. Langhorne ran through the envelopes and stopped at one. He tapped a bell beside him. A few moments later, the door opened to admit a slender, sleek-faced man who gazed questioningly at the millionaire.

"Jarvis," demanded Mr. Langhorne gruffly, "when did this mail arrive?"

"At five o'clock, sir."

"Very well. You may wait outside. I shall call you later."

Langhorne laid the envelope aside. He opened a drawer of the desk and methodically brought forth two similar envelopes, both of which had been previously opened.

From one, Langhorne shook forth a mass of clippings. He went through them, one by one. Sinister items these, they referred to mysterious deaths upon Long Island. With them was a sheet of paper which bore a cryptic message:

DEATHLESS WILLING BEHALF YOURSELF LOTTO

Irwin Langhorne frowned and laid the clippings in one pile, the envelope on the other side of the desk, and the message in front of him. This material had arrived yesterday morning.

Langhorne shook the second envelope.

Out came new clippings. The millionaire examined them. Every one referred to deaths in Manhattan.

A perplexed look appeared upon Irwin Langhorne's brow. He had received these clippings this morning. He had mulled over their meaning all day at the office. For every one of these mysterious deaths had occurred along the route which Langhorne followed in the morning, with punctual regularity!

The note that accompanied the clippings was inscribed in the same cryptic capitals:

DOOMING ISLAM INTAKE YOURSELF WAKEFUL

Once again, Langhorne performed his methodical sorting. He put clippings, envelope, and message in their separate places, and picked up the new letter that had arrived this afternoon.

Langhorne felt positive that an explanation must lie in this new envelope.

HE was right.

The envelope contained a letter. It was written in plain words. Its opening remarks stated:

My previous notes were sent as tokens of my power. The first syllable of each word will tell the meaning.

Langhorne quickly referred to the messages on the table. With pencil, he crossed out the last syllable of each word. Meaningless jargons now made sense:

DEATH WILL BE YOUR LOT DEATH IS IN YOUR WAKE

Irwin Langhorne studied the facts. He realized instantly that he was confronted with tremendous danger. The first note had come before the Manhattan killings. It was a boast of what the murderer had done.

Directly afterward–after a space of only twenty-four hours–had come the boast of a new achievement: three deaths which concerned Irwin Langhorne.

The millionaire knew that he could easily have been made a victim.

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