The Shadow - 229 - Gems of Jeopardy by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1941-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

“Has your boss got any more of the stuff?”

“Plenty!” Vincent said. His throat felt dry as he saw the glitter of those

slitted eyes. “What you bought is only a drop in the bucket. Any time you want more, just say so. Half price for cash.”

“Fair enough.”

HARRY VINCENT walked out without any trouble.

He hurried along the dim corridor toward the private elevator that would take him silently downward to the cloakroom of the Club Bolero.

He never reached it.

Midway down the corridor Harry stiffened with sudden agony. A tingling paralysis leaped without warning through his entire body. He had stepped on a concealed metal plate in the floor. From that metal plate a jagged leap of electricity coursed through Vincent’s body.

Writhing in pain, he fell.

It was not a killing shock, but it put Harry completely out of action. As he lay on the corridor floor, he heard the swift thud of feet. Unable to move a muscle, he glared helplessly at the faces of three thugs.

The thugs had not emerged from the elevator at the far end of the hallway.

Nor had they come from Keech’s room. They had appeared without sound from the side wall of the corridor itself.

A quick hand disarmed Harry and grabbed his satchel. Two other thugs hauled him to his feet. Not a word was spoken by the grim trio. The man with the satchel and the gun walked ahead. The other two hustled Harry back to the room be had just quitted.

Frankie Keech was still at his desk. He laughed. It was not a pleasant sound.

“Give this bum a treatment. I want him to do some talking!”

Fists thudded against Vincent’s jaw. When he fell he was hauled to his feet and smashed again.

“That’s enough,” Keech told his thugs presently. “We don’t want to knock the bum out. Put him in that chair. Tie him up.”

Harry Vincent was tied in the same chair in which he had sat so calmly a few minutes earlier. But there was nothing friendly about Keech now. His slitted eyes were icy.

“How about a little information, pal?”

“I’ve told you all I know.”

Keech’s voice was soft, almost like a woman’s.

“I don’t pay for gems when I can take them. I want to know who your boss is. I want to know exactly how much more jewelry he’s got. Also the spot where he hides the stuff.”

“How can I tell when I don’t know?”

“You’re going to yell at the top of your lungs, if you’re not smart. This joint is soundproof. You know that! Well?”

Vincent licked his lips; his face was gray. But he said nothing.

“All right, start in a little easy, boys,” Keech said. “Then work up to something good!”

The three thugs advanced on the helpless captive in the chair. They worked

like a well-trained team. One of the thrust Vincent’s head backward. The other two did the torturing.

Vincent’s scream echoed shrilly in the soundproof room. When it died away,

Keech chuckled.

“Any remarks on the subject of jewels? No? Try him again, boys!”

This time, the treatment was longer.

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