Gypsy Vengeance

CHAPTER VII. AT JERWYN’S

HARRY VINCENT was still watching the house across the street. The limousine was still there. Two hours had elapsed since its arrival. The chauffeur, pacing back and forth beside the curb, seemed impatient.

Then some activity. The door of the house opened. The white-coated ladies appeared upon the steps.

They entered the car; it drove away. The door of the house closed.

Harry glanced along the street. He saw an approaching figure. He recognized the gait. It was the same man who had left earlier in the evening. Valdo was returning. Harry watched him enter by the side of the house.

Yet Harry, though he had spotted Valdo easily, had failed to observe another form that had appeared before the house opposite. He did not see the blackened shape that glided toward the front steps. He did not see the darkened outline against the doorway of the house.

The Shadow had picked Valdo’s destination. He, too, had come to this secluded spot. He, like the gypsy, was entering the home of Lorenna, the fortune teller. Clicks — barely audible — announced the progress of The Shadow’s bold plan of entry. The front door moved inward. An edging form cut off light from within. The door closed.

The Shadow reached a dim hallway. A door, at the right, was ajar. Mellow light came from the room.

The Shadow peered through the opening. The room was unoccupied; the light revealed a scene of barbaric splendor.

The room was decorated in gypsy style; but the furnishings were more lavish than those seen in any gypsy camp. Red velvet curtains; cushioned chairs and sofa trimmed with gold; hanging tapestries with gorgeous borders — these were the features of Lorenna’s reading room.

A chart hung on the further wall. It showed a human hand, in enormous scale, with the mounts and lines marked by cabalistic signs. Evidently none but Madame Lorenna could decipher these cryptic symbols.

Incense hung heavy in the room. The atmosphere seemed charged with a dreamy lull. This was the place where Lorenna had received the two society women who had come by limousine.

THE SHADOW glided from the doorway. He gained the darkened stairway just as a tall, cadaverous man appeared in the hall. This was evidently Claude Jerwyn. The Shadow saw him enter the reading room, to close it for the night.

Silently, The Shadow reached the second floor. Here was a hallway, with deep, old-fashioned doorways. The Shadow glided to the end of the hall. He noted a light beneath a door on the left. He could hear the murmur of voices.

There was a door straight ahead. It was locked. The Shadow’s pick probed the keyhole. The simple lock yielded a moment later. The Shadow entered what appeared to be a disused store room. He noted a door on the left — with light beneath.

The pick worked carefully. Inch by inch, The Shadow pressed the door inward until he gained a slight crevice. Staring through the opening, he observed another room furnished in gypsy style. Less splendid than the downstairs apartment, this was evidently Lorenna’s living room.

Two people were engaged in conversation. One was Valdo, with his gleaming smile. The other was a dark-skinned woman of unusual beauty — Madam Lorenna.

“Tu, tu, so penghias manghe?” came Valdo’s dialect. “Jav. Tu kanmadesa o love—”

“Ava,” broke in the woman. “O gajo—”

Coin ear-rings jingled as Lorenna turned toward the door of the room. Claude Jerwyn had entered. His expression showed fury as he stared at Valdo.

“I told you to cut out that gypsy jabber,” he fumed. “If you want to talk to Lorenna, use English. What were you saying to her, anyway?”

“Lorenna spoke to me,” returned Valdo, calmly. “I asked her: ‘What did you say to me? I go. You will give me money?’ “

“Did you tell him that, Lorenna?” questioned Jerwyn, angrily.

“Yes,” replied the gypsy woman, in a defiant tone. “I am afraid for Valdo. He is Rom; you are gajo. You do not like him—”

“Get this,” yapped Jerwyn. “Valdo is welcome around this joint if he minds his own business. But this gypsy gabble is out. How do I know what he’s telling you?”

Valdo was on his feet. He shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands disparagingly.

“It is well, Lorenna,” he declared. “I will talk with this gajo. He and I will be friends.”

“Yes,” returned Jerwyn, sourly. “You stay here, Lorenna. I want to talk with Valdo.”

The woman watched anxiously as the two men left the room. She did not see the closing of the door to the store room. When The Shadow reached the hall door, he heard Jerwyn unlocking the door of the room opposite to Lorenna’s. Moving back through the store room, The Shadow found the door that he required. The pick worked; the door opened slightly. The Shadow peered into the second room just as Jerwyn and Valdo entered.

The cadaverous man locked the hall door. Valdo watched him half suspiciously; yet the gypsy’s smile was one of contempt. Jerwyn swung to face his companion.

“I’ve got something to ask you, Valdo!” he snarled. “Where did you go from here last night?”

“Why do you ask that?” questioned Valdo.

“You know why.” Jerwyn’s tone was vicious. “There was trouble last night. The cops put a nice crimp into a good game. Somebody squealed — somebody that was wise—”

Valdo’s hands had risen. His fingers were moving as though they longed to clutch Jerwyn’s throat. The cadaverous man stopped short as Valdo spat an interruption.

“You think I tell?” The gypsy’s tone was fierce. “You think I tell? That is because you are gajo. Pah! No Rom tells to police.”

Valdo’s eyes were glaring. Jerwyn had backed across the room, adopting a defensive attitude. Valdo’s rage subsided. The gypsy dropped his hands.

“You think I tell?” This time Valdo laughed contemptuously. “You think I make trouble for Lorenna?”

This was logic. Jerwyn’s pale lips formed a shrewd, thoughtful smile. He knew the clannish traits of the gypsies. He realized how treachery, on the part of Valdo, could bring trouble to Lorenna. Yet the last trace of suspicion remained in Jerwyn’s mind. The cadaverous man voiced it to Valdo.

“All right, Valdo,” wheedled Jerwyn. “I know you wouldn’t try to make trouble for Lorenna. But” — the speaker paused emphatically — “it was mighty suspicious, the way you went out of here last night. You pulled a sneak — you came back — a couple of hours later, there’s trouble for Marty Lunk.

“Tonight, you slide out while I’m busy arranging for Lorenna’s readings. Now you’re back again. What I want to know is where you’ve been — and why—”

“Yes,” bowed Valdo. “You wish to know? That is the thing that I have come to tell you. I have found the way for very much money. Thousands of dollars—”

“Where?”

VALDO pulled the old clipping from the pocket of his jacket. He handed it to Jerwyn. The manager looked puzzled as he read about the body from the river.

“That is where I went last night,” informed Valdo. “To see if that man was the one I knew.”

“You were at the morgue?”

“Yes.”

“You recognized the drowned man?”

“Yes.”

“Who was he?”

“A man from Spain. His name — Mandrez. Listen, while I tell. This Mandrez, he was the servant of a great gentleman. His master — ah! Yek baro rai sas-lo — a great gentleman was he!”

“A Spanish grandee?”

“Yes. The Duke of Almanza. That is the name they would call him in this country. Bad trouble begins in Spain and—”

“The revolution?”

“Yes. The great people, they run away. Some servants, they run, too. Mandrez — he come to America. But he plan to go back to Spain.”

“Why?” Jerwyn’s question seemed eager.

“In the castle of Almanza,” confided Valdo, “are gems. They belong to the Duke of Almanza. Mandrez — he knows where they are hid. Mandrez — he goes back to Spain — to get those gems.”

“How do you know this, Valdo?”

“How?” Valdo laughed. “Because I was in Spain, with those Rom they call Gitanos. There was a man who sent Mandrez, a man who give Mandrez money to bring the gems to him.”

“A crook?”

“Yes,” Valdo grinned. “A smart crook. One who has been in many country. France — England — South America. This man knows me, Valdo. I, Valdo, know that he has sent Mandrez. I find that Mandrez takes the gems. But he does not go to the man who sent him. Mandrez comes here, to New York. I am too late to stop him.”

“Where was the crook who sent him?”

“In Buenos Aires.”

“I get it.” Jerwyn nodded. “An international crook, eh? Smart bird — with dough — but Mandrez double-crossed him.”

“Yes,” agreed Valdo. “You know what I think Mandrez do? He come here to New York. He sell those gems to some rai — to some gentleman with much money.”

“To get more dough than the smart crook offered him,” added Jerwyn. “Then some thugs grabbed hold of Mandrez. They cleaned him and dumped him in the river. I get it, Valdo.”

“There is more,” declared the gypsy, simply: “Last night, I see Mandrez in that place they call the morgue. Tonight, I see the other man.”

“The international crook?”

“Yes. I tell him that Mandrez is dead. He is angry, at first. Then he is quiet. He asks me — where are the gems? He can get them — if only he find out where they are. So I speak to him. I ask how much will he give to to find the man who has bought the gems from Mandrez.”

“What did he say?”

“Twenty-five thousand dollars.” replied the gypsy. “Maybe he give more than that. I tell him, I will find the gems. I tell him that I will talk with you. I tell him about Lorenna—”

“Say!” Jerwyn’s voice was enthusiastic. “You’ve hit something big, Valdo. This story of yours” — he paused to eye the gypsy narrowly — “well, it’s too good to be phoney. Twenty-five grand!”

Jerwyn paced across the room. He stopped and stared at the ceiling. He began to speak aloud, letting Valdo hear the trend of his soliloquy.

“We’ll put Lorenna on the job,” remarked Jerwyn. “She’ll pump away until she finds out something. Meanwhile, we’re safe. This crook can do the work—”

Jerwyn stopped to face Valdo. His lips formed a shrewd smile.

“I’ve got to know more about these gems,” the manager asserted. “What do they look like? Can this guy describe them?”

“I think so.”

“And I’ve got to know that he’s got dough. I can use cash now, Valdo. How about five grand. Would he cough it up as an advance?”

“I think so. I can go see.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

Jerwyn stepped over and unlocked the door to the hall. He motioned to Valdo. The gypsy followed Jerwyn. The moment that they left the room, the door to the store room closed. It’s lock turned noiselessly.

The Shadow reached the hall; peering from the center door of the store room, he saw Jerwyn and Valdo turn toward the stairs. The Shadow followed. His swift, silent stride brought him close behind the two men.

“Five grand,” The Shadow could hear Jerwyn saying, “and the deal is on. If those Spanish gems are in New York, Lorenna will find out where. This crook can play his own game, Valdo. Let him lay low. But I get the cash when Lorenna gets the dope. You savvy?”

“Yes.”

“If you can make him raise the ante, do it.” Jerwyn and Valdo had turned the bottom of the stairway.

“See how much he will go over the twenty-five grand. Get me?”

“I understand.”

The Shadow had reached the bottom of the stairs. He heard these final words as Jerwyn and Valdo entered a passage that led to the side door. The Shadow moved straight ahead. He reached the front door, unlocked it and stepped out into the night. He closed the door behind him. The lock clicked as The Shadow probed it.

HARRY VINCENT, watching from across the street, saw Valdo slink from the side entrance. But he did not observe The Shadow, standing on the steps. As Valdo headed toward the avenue. The Shadow glided softly to the sidewalk. His fleeting form took the opposite direction.

A soft laugh in the darkness. The Shadow had witnessed the culmination of Valdo’s scheme. From the facts that he had learned at the Hotel Gardley, The Shadow was sure that Rodney Casper would not balk at the advance payment of five thousand dollars.

The Shadow was on his way to the sanctum. There he would gain reports from his agents; he would make his plans to watch the coming deeds. Rodney Casper, with his mission in New York; Claude Jerwyn, manager of Lorenna, the gypsy fortune teller — these were odd allies.

Valdo was the link between them. Wisely had The Shadow chosen the gypsy as the key to hidden crime!