Gypsy Vengeance

CHAPTER VIII. THE COUNTER PLOT

THE SHADOW, in his personal investigations of crime, employed a system that had proven its worth.

To him, criminals formed human chains. His method was to concentrate upon the most important link.

Rodney Casper — Claude Jerwyn — Madame Lorenna — all were to play important parts in coming events.

Valdo, however, was the one connection. So long as The Shadow watched the gypsy, he could gain an inkling of the work which the others were performing.

Whether Valdo talked in Romany to Lorenna; in Spanish to Casper; or in English to Jerwyn — all was the same to The Shadow. A linguist of amazing ability, he knew the gypsy dialect as well as other tongues.

At the sanctum. The Shadow was to learn through Burbank that Harry Vincent had seen three persons enter and leave Jerwyn’s house. Two were the society women who had come for palm readings. The third was Valdo.

More than that: The Shadow had entered Jerwyn’s house to observe two persons there. He had seen Claude Jerwyn and Madame Lorenna. Apparently, The Shadow had accounted for all concerned.

Yet on this occasion, The Shadow had missed an important point. He would have done well had he remained at Jerwyn’s. For there lay another link in the chain of crime which was to come.

CLAUDE JERWYN, after locking the side door, went directly to the front of the house. He made sure that the front door was locked. He smiled sourly as he ascended the stairs. He went to the same room where The Shadow had seen him with Valdo. He entered and locked the door behind him.

Just within the entrance to Jerwyn’s room was the door of a closet. This was one spot that The Shadow, peering from the store room, had been unable to discern. That, perhaps, accounted for The Shadow’s departure from Jerwyn’s house. Had The Shadow spotted the closet door, it might have attracted his full observation during the talk which had passed between Jerwyn and Valdo.

Alone in his room, Jerwyn tapped twice upon the door. He stepped back. The barrier opened. A leering man shambled into view. It was Marty Lunk. The defeated mobleader faced Claude Jerwyn.

“You heard it all?” questioned the cadaverous manager.

Lunk nodded.

“Did it sound like a stall?”

“No.” Lunk spat his decision. “Do you think I’d have let that gypsy get out of here if I hadn’t figured him on the level?”

“I guess not.” agreed Jerwyn.

“You guessed right,” sneered Lunk. “Say — when you told me about this Valdo hanging around here. I never did like it. That’s why I came here — to put him on the spot. We both figured he had blabbed.”

“But when he pulled this story—”

“That was different. A guy don’t talk twenty-five grand for a stall. That was a good line you handed him — five grand in advance.”

“I knew it was all right to let him go. You could have popped out and plugged him if you hadn’t liked the idea. Well — if he’s on the level, he’ll be back. If he’s phony, he won’t do any talking.”

“On account of Lorenna.”

“Right.”

Marty Lunk pulled a cigarette from his pocket. He inserted it between his wolfish lips. He sprawled in a chair and lighted a match. Puffing his cigarette, he began to talk.

“We can use this gyp Valdo,” asserted Lunk. “Him and this smart crook that’s in back of him. I ain’t sure yet that Valdo didn’t squawk to the bulls — but it don’t matter if he did.”

Jerwyn looked puzzled. Lunk proceeded to explain.

“Maybe Valdo wanted to queer my racket,” declared the mobleader.

“Maybe he figured that if you and I were split, he wouldn’t have any trouble springing this new idea on you. But it don’t make any difference.

“Any way you look at it, we’re sitting pretty. Valdo thinks I’m crimped. Let him think it. The old game is busted; but we’re ready for a new one.”

“We are,” nodded Jerwyn. “Just the same, Marty, I’m surprised that you let Valdo go, if you still have a suspicion that he might have squealed.”

“Yeah?” Marty grunted. “What if he did squawk? This new game is worth it. Anyway — the old racket was queered — bulls or no bulls.”

“How?” questioned Jerwyn, in surprise.

“I’ll tell you,” confided Lunk. His hand was nervous as it held the half-smoked cigarette. “There was somebody got there last night ahead of the bulls — somebody that made plenty of trouble.”

“Who?”

“The Shadow!”

A PALLOR showed on Jerwyn’s long face. The manager chewed his lips as he stared incredulously.

Marty Lunk was nodding.

“The Shadow,” repeated the mobleader. “He was the guy that queered the job. What do I care for Joe Cardona?” Lunk grunted in contempt. “Say — I’d start again tomorrow night, if I only had Cardona to watch out for. But The Shadow — well, I ain’t taking no chances with him.”

“How do you think he got wise?” questioned Jerwyn, anxiously.

“How?” Lunk laughed sourly. “Ask him — not me. But I’ve got an idea.”

“You mean Lorenna?”

“Yeah.”

Jerwyn paced nervously. Lunk laughed again as he puffed the stump of his cigarette.

“Don’t get jittery,” he snarled. “That ain’t the way to act. Sit down. Get steady. Listen. I’ll tell you why there ain’t no reason to worry.

“The Shadow was trying to find out who was pulling these swell jobs. He learned something. He must have seen that you and Lorenna were going to some nifty places; that the mob always landed at some house where Lorenna had been invited.

“So what did he do? He watched here. He must have seen me come in and go out. So he kept his eye on my mob. That’s how he wised up that we were going to Croman’s last night. He showed up and smeared the mob. The bulls popped in and finished the work.”

“You saw The Shadow?”

“Yes. I scrammed. Now here’s the way I figure it. The Shadow may keep on watching this dump. But he’ll be looking for me — that’s all. But he won’t see me. There won’t be no more jobs. The Shadow will know that he gummed the works. He’ll have other things to keep him busy.

“Meanwhile, you keep on taking Lorenna to ritzy houses. Be on the level with this fortune telling stuff. Run your mitt camp downstairs. No phony business. The Shadow won’t bother you.

“It’ll be a long while before Lorenna gets the dope that Valdo wants. I’ll be hiding out. I’ll let you know where you can get hold of me. When Lorenna gets the low down on the money guy that has the Spanish sparklers, I’ll be ready.”

“You mean to split on the dough?” questioned Jerwyn. “To see if you can make this international crook cough over more than the twenty-five grand?”

“Nah!” Lunk scowled. “Say — do you think I’m cuckoo? If you can snag that dough, you’re welcome to it. I’m going after something bigger.”

“The gems?”

“Sure. Say — why do you think that guy told Valdo to offer you twenty-five grand for Lorenna’s work? I’ll tell you why. Because those sparklers are worth plenty more than the dough he’s willing to put up.

“It’s soft for you, Jerwyn. All you’ve got to do is stall Valdo. When Lorenna gets the dope, don’t let the gyp know it. Tip me off, instead. I’ll have a new mob ready. We’ll grab the sparklers.”

Claude Jerwyn nodded. He saw chances for a big share in the purloined profits. He also realized a chance for a perfect double-cross.

“I get you,” he said. “We’ll work it your way, Marty. But the night that you go to grab the stuff, I’ll give the dope to Valdo. I’ll collect the twenty-five grand. I’ll take it on the lam — and Lorenna will go with me. But remember — I get my cut on your job, too.”

“Ten percent.” agreed Marty. “The regular rate. If you want to trim this smart guy that Valdo talks about, that’s your own racket. You’re welcome to it. Let me get those gleamers — I know how to fence the stuff for plenty.”

Marty Lunk arose. He nudged his thumb toward the door. Claude Jerwyn nodded as he turned the lock.

Then, with a worried expression on his face, Jerwyn gripped Lunk’s arm.

“There’s only one thing, Marty,” he said. “About the Shadow—”

“Forget The Shadow,” sneered Lunk. “If he goes after anybody, it’ll be me. But how is he going to find me? I’ll be hiding out until I’m ready for the job. Then it’ll be one quick smash, before he can get wise.”

Jerwyn nodded. His qualms were fading.

“I ain’t taking chances,” assured Marty Lunk. “Why do you think I came in through the skylight tonight? Just because The Shadow — or some stool of his — might be watching outside. I’m leaving the way I came.”

“Sh-h!” warned Jerwyn, as he turned the knob of the door. “Don’t let Lorenna hear you.”

Lunk quieted. Jerwyn opened the door. The gangleader tiptoed along the hall. He opened a door that showed a pair of stairs, leading upward.

“If I have to see you,” he told Jerwyn, in a low tone, “I’ll come in from the roof, like I did tonight. I used the old house over in the back street. If you want me, call Red Mike’s and ask for Muggsy Wagram. He’s the only guy that knows where to find me.”

Marty Lunk ascended to the attic. Claude Jerwyn, listening, heard a skylight open and settle into place.

Jerwyn closed the door. With a smile upon his pasty lips, the cadaverous man returned to his own quarters.

ONE hour later, a tiny bulb flickered on the wall of The Shadow’s sanctum. White hands stretched forward beneath the rays of the table lamp. Earphones clattered into view.

“Burbank speaking,” came a voice.

“Report” whispered The Shadow.

“Report from Vincent,” informed Burbank. “Valdo has returned.”

“Report received. Vincent off duty.”

A whispered laugh sounded as the Shadow replaced the earphones. Well did the master sleuth know the significance of Valdo’s return. It meant that Rodney Casper had complied with Claude Jerwyn’s request for five thousand dollars in advance.

The deal was completed. Lorenna, the gypsy fortune teller, would begin her new task. In her visits to homes of the elite; in the readings that she gave to those who came to her own parlor, the gypsy palmist would be working to uncover important information.

Sooner or later, Lorenna would learn the identity of the person who now owned the Duke of Almanza’s stolen gems. That was the time which Rodney Casper would await.

The Shadow knew Valdo’s scheme. The Shadow would prepare to deal with Rodney Casper. But The Shadow’s plan was due to meet revision. Marty Lunk, engaged in secret preparation, was entering as a new factor in the events that were to come.