The Isle of Doubt

CHAPTER XVI. THE INVESTIGATOR EXPLAINS

“YOU’VE come into a crucial situation, Vincent,” declared Harvey Wendell. “I’ve been waiting for the break, and it may come any time. So, while we’re here, close to the island, I’m going to tell you just what’s what.”

Wendell was leaning against the wall of the boiler room, close by the door on the lower side — the unexpected entrance through which The Shadow had appeared without Wendell’s knowledge. Harry Vincent was still standing beside the blackened exit through which The Shadow had departed.

“It was a good break, after all” — Wendell grinned as he stroked his jaw — “the way you socked me. Say, Vincent — you had nerve. I can’t figure yet how you grabbed my gun so quickly. Before I could pull the trigger, it was gone.”

“I had to take a chance,” returned Harry quietly. “When you failed to believe my story—”

“Forget it,” growled Wendell. “I should have known you were all right. It was my own dumbness. But I’ve been worried during the last few days, Vincent — and I’m going to tell you why.” Wendell paused to adjust the electric bull’s-eye so that the illumination turned downward. The lantern was a powerful one, with a battery that was evidently capable of long duration.

“Did you ever hear of Birch Bizzup’s gang?” questioned Wendell.

Harry looked doubtful; then recalled the name.

“The bank robbers?” he asked.

“Yes,” returned Wendell. “They ran wild, here in the Middle West. I was sure you’d have heard about them in New York.

“Well, I was investigating their robberies — and I kept pretty well under cover. Acted as secretary on different boards of directors. I’d worked that system before; it gave me ingress into different banks without exciting suspicion of employees.

“We figured that there might be some inside tips going out, you understand. Weston Levis was connected with various banks; he had interests all around St. Louis. He and I talked over the proposition, and we figured that as his secretary, I could cover more ground. So I took the job.” The connection was clearing now. Harry saw how Weston Levis fitted into the picture; and he felt sure that further explanation would clarify other details.

“Bizzup’s gang finally hit trouble,” resumed Wendell. “Some of the worst customers in the outfit were killed — Bizzup along with them. The rest went to the penitentiary. But there was no sign of the stuff they had stolen — more than half a million, all negotiable. It was evident that Bizzup must have stowed it somewhere — and we couldn’t get a word out of any of his gang.”

“The crooks on the island!” exclaimed Harry, as though gaining a sudden idea.

“I’m coming to them,” said Wendell dryly. “There were two of Bizzup’s men who went to the pen — and both were pretty foxy fellows. One was Zach Telvin, Bizzup’s lieutenant; the other was Tom Furgis, who had been with Bizzup a long while.

“I figured Telvin as too wise for the game I had in mind. I picked Furgis. I went to jail for three days, by arrangement with the warden. Played the part of a safe cracker who was getting a parole. I landed in with Furgis, and played my part so well that he spilled what he knew.”

“About the money?”

“Yes. He wanted me to locate it and hold on to his share. He had heard Birch Bizzup talking to Zach Telvin about going up the river with some swag. Furgis knew this island, and he decided it must be the place where Bizzup had buried the spoils. That was all I wanted to know. I got my parole — so Furgis thought — and I figured out the best way to look around up here.”

“Why didn’t you come alone?”

“Because I didn’t know who else might be in on it. I told Levis what I had learned. I thought maybe I could get some property through him, and use it as a headquarters. Levis was a prince. His doctor had ordered him to retire — for a while at least — so the old man suggested that I find a large tract of ground. That’s how I came to get the old plantation. Levis brought Hadley along to work the place.”

“So Levis knew that you were coming down here,” grinned Harry. “Say — he fooled me this afternoon. So did Hadley.”

“Not Hadley, so much,” asserted Wendell, “because he really thinks that I am the old man’s secretary. He doesn’t like me, but Levis keeps things smoothed. But wait until I tell you the rest. I’ll get to you eventually.

“I scoured this boat, and I went all over the island. Nothing doing. No money. I figured that Furgis had bluffed me. I was going back to the pen to take a try with Zach Telvin, when one day I read in a newspaper that Telvin had broken jail.”

“No!”

“Absolutely. That made me think. Then, when three strangers showed up on the island, I began to think some more. That’s why I was looking in there the night you saw me. I spotted those three men — and I recognized one of them.”

“You don’t mean—”

“Zach Telvin. That’s who I mean. He’s the stoop-shouldered one. He’s there on the island with two pals. They’re looking for what I couldn’t find. So I’m watching the three of them.”

“I get it now,” remarked Harry. “No wonder you were puzzled when I happened to drop in at the plantation so casually.”

“SAY,” returned Wendell, “I expected you right from the minute you showed up. I wondered whether you were with the outfit, or whether you were trailing them on your own hook. I told Levis what I thought about it.

“He suggested that I watch you for a while. That’s why he talked this afternoon. I knew all about it. I was there in the house, listening. When you went up the river in the motor boat, I arranged to be on watch for your return.”

“I fell for it,” admitted Harry. “I thought you looked like a crook —”

“I do,” declared Wendell. “That’s how I made out so well with Furgis, in the pen.”

“I was curious about the island,” said Harry, “and, when Levis talked today, I had a hunch I’d like to come down this way again. I picked the old steamboat first—”

“And you didn’t get any farther. Well, now you know everything, and I’m convinced that your story is correct. You can move out of this mess if you want to; but if you’re willing to stick with me, I’d prefer it, now that I’ve let you in on the whole story.”

“I’d like to stick for a while, Wendell. I suppose you’re going after those men on the island.”

“Not yet. Here’s the trouble. I can take Zach Telvin, but I’ve got nothing on the others. I can call on the sheriff to run down the escaped convict. But suppose the other two slide out; suppose there are more in the game? They know about the money Bizzup took — and I don’t want to tell the whole county about it. There’d be a treasure hunt. I’m sure the stuff is here, since Zach Telvin has arrived. That’s all the more reason to play a cagey game.”

“That’s right,” agreed Harry.

“I’ve got to be on the job,” declared Wendell, “to get those fellows quick, if they find the goods before I do. But all along I’ve had the hope that I could land the dough ahead of them. Then the job’s done, and I can call in the sheriff to catch Zach Telvin.”

“But the crooks are on the island.”

“That’s the trouble. I’m going over there again tonight, to watch them.”

“You’re letting them do all the searching.”

“Yes. I can’t get out of it. Say, Vincent, we might be able to cook up a plan where one of us could watch while the other looked around a bit. That is, if you’re game.”

“I’m game,” returned Harry.

“I know that,” said Wendell quickly, “but I mean if you’re willing to poke yourself into trouble. I’m a lone hand, Vincent. I’ve never needed help before, like I do now. I don’t want to bring men up from St. Louis — I don’t know who I’d get. Levis is too old a man. Hadley is a capable chap, but I don’t know if he could stand the gaff.”

“Why do you think I could?” quizzed Harry.

“Here’s why,” returned Wendell, pointing to his jaw. “You showed your stuff, young fellow. I’ll work with you any day. What say — are you ready to hit that island?”

Harry Vincent’s lips were moving to form an affirmative reply when a weird, creepy sound reached the young man’s ears. It was a whisper from the darkness beyond the boiler room, a sinister sound articulated so subtly that Harry could barely detect it, while Wendell, fifteen feet away, did not catch the words that were so softly spoken.

The whisper of The Shadow! As Harry heard its sinister tones, he listened, for the new instructions. The reply that Harry was to make depended upon the word that was coming from The Shadow!