The Ribbon Clues

CHAPTER XX. STATED CRIME

THE expressions of Captain Jund and Dave Callard were oddly different as they viewed Courtney Dolver. Jund’s was one of total surprise. He thought that the intruder must be Mallikan; but somehow Dolver did not fit the picture that Jund had made of Mallikan.

Dave’s face showed complete astonishment. It was plain that he had seen Dolver before; it was apparent, however, that he had not once suspected the importer as the man of crime.

“You know me, do you?” questioned Dolver, harshly. “Well, Callard, I recognize you from the descriptions that I have heard others give. I am glad to learn that you found your way here. That fact will add effectively to my plans.”

“You — you murdered Ralgood,” stammered Dave. “And — and Shurrick—”

“Also Basslett,” added Dolver. “Don’t forget him. I was prepared to murder Hungerfeld as well, had I been able to reach him. My part has been a most remarkable one.”

Indulgently, the self-admitted killer laughed. He was enjoying this triumph. Two helpless victims, an opened safe: those items pleased him. A master of crime, Dolver was pleased with his vile work. He wanted others to listen to its details.

“Basslett began it,” rasped Dolver. “I, too, was a friend of your uncle’s; but scarcely more than an acquaintance. After his death, I noted the fact that Milton Callard had died with the bulk of his wealth unaccounted for.

“I summoned Basslett. I talked with him; made promises. He told me all he knew: the names of three men, Ralgood, Shurrick and Hungerfeld, to whom Milton Callard sent the ribbons. Basslett, however, knew nothing more, except that the three were to meet at Mallikan’s on December fifth.

“Basslett was offered employment by Ralgood. I told him to accept it. Meanwhile, I planned to watch Shurrick myself. I took an apartment on the floor below his penthouse, while my home on Long Island was ripped apart for alteration.

“I was awaiting Hungerfeld’s return from Europe. But before he came, I learned through Basslett that you, Callard, had been released from jail in China. I decided that the time to strike would be the night of your arrival, particularly since you had written Ralgood that you would come to see him.”

DAVE CALLARD started to speak as Dolver paused. The importer silenced the heir with a vicious snarl; then resumed.

“Basslett admitted me to Ralgood’s,” explained Dolver. “I found them engaged in a contest over the bit of ribbon. I slew Ralgood; then watched the effect on Basslett. As I had supposed, he was yellow. He had not expected murder. So I killed him also.

“I took the ribbon and the letter that Luther Ralgood had received from Milton Callard. Ralgood: had kept the letter as well as the ribbon. I searched the room and removed Ralgood’s old-fashioned gun. But I left the cartridges; also the letter that Ralgood had received from China.”

“To frame me!” blurted Dave. “You framed me, Dolver — but I thought—”

“You thought that Mallikan was behind it,” chuckled Dolver. “That guess was as bad as the one made by the police when they suspected you. The murder of Ralgood! Bah! That was child’s play, requiring no craft. Listen to the deed that followed:

“The next night, I went up to Shurrick’s penthouse, from my own apartment. I knocked at the door. He admitted me. He thought I was a friend, for he had seen me about the apartment house. I lost but little time with Shurrick. I shot him dead, with that gun that I had brought from Ralgood’s.

“I had carried in a bag that evening. In it, I had a coil of rope, already knotted and twisted. I placed it under my coat when I went to call on Shurrick. I also had a bandanna handkerchief, tied with a slipknot.

“First I snatched away Shurrick’s locket; as I expected, it contained the ribbon. I had seen Shurrick finger that locket nervously, when riding in the elevator. I removed the ribbon. I threw the locket far out the window. I did not care if it should be found later.

“The ribbon went to my own pocket. I wiped off the death gun and tossed it to the ledge below Shurrick’s window. I gagged myself with the bandanna. I slipped into the coiled ropes, doubling my body; then stretching as I rolled upon my face.”

DOLVER paused to double up; then rise erect. His imitation told the story. Both Dave and Jund understood; they knew the kind of knots that the murderer had used.

“I was released,” laughed Dolver. “Found bound and gagged; my bonds had tightened so much that the elevator man had difficulty cutting me loose. I told a story that sounded true. A man on the fire tower; a course to the penthouse; my struggle and Shurrick’s death.

“The gun that I had brought from Ralgood’s served as I had hoped it would. Your letter, Callard, had brought you under suspicion. That was why I had left it there. The cartridges in Ralgood’s desk supplied the link with the gun. The police credited you with trying to baffle them. They were smart enough to pick up the fake trail.”

Dolver paused to chuckle. Other thoughts occurred to Dave Callard: how Dolver had bluffed the law by stealing the locket, making Cardona think that the object had been taken for its value; that ordinary theft had been the killer’s mission.

“I was waiting for Hungerfeld,” remarked Dolver. “The New York Classic, its call for friends of Milton Callard, came close to defeating my plans. Moreover, it suggested that the murderer might threaten me. Because I had described him and had told about the locket.

“I described the murderer.” Dolver chuckled again at the recollection. “It was you that I described, David Callard. Not too closely; that would have been unwise.

“The police commissioner was influenced by the Classic’s story. He called me at my home. I invited him out there. I wrote those Chinese letters on the window shade. It was my excuse to go to the window with the candelabrum.

“Lessing was outside.” David saw the servant grin in ugly fashion as Dolver made the reference. “An expert with a pistol, he aimed and fired. Not for me, but for that candelabrum that I was slowly moving across my body.

“Lessing hurried back and grabbed his rifle. Later, while the search was on, he dropped the revolver that he had used; then discovered it near the house. They thought it was your gun again.”

DOLVER paused. He had spoken directly to Dave. The young man clenched his upraised fists. He was savage as he denounced the killer.

“I came out there on your account,” declared Dave. “To save you, Dolver, thinking that Mallikan might want to kill you. I read the newspaper story also. I saw you receive your guests. I heard the shot at the side of the house. I was forced to flee. Later, I read that Mallikan had been at your place. I thought that he had fired the shot; then doubled back to some spot where he had hidden his car.”

“Circumstances were excellent,” chuckled Dolver. “They placed me in a strong position. But all the while, I had two ribbons that I could not fathom. I must admit that I did not connect them with a sailor’s hat. I tried E S as the beginning of the word; I never suspected that X E would serve.

“I had to wait for Hungerfeld’s return, to obtain the third ribbon. He arrived. Of course, he notified the Classic and the police. Inspector Cardona was fool enough to call me; I was smart enough to talk him into divulging the letters on Hungerfeld’s ribbon, which Cardona had seen.

“R X gave me all I needed. I wrote those letters on a slip of paper and used it with the bits of ribbon. I soon found the word; I recalled the Xerxes, which used to carry my imports as far as Hong Kong. I knew that the ship was with the ghost fleet.

“Pretending that I was going to my lodge, I dismissed the two detectives who were guarding me. I arrived near here at dusk; I sent Lessing down to negotiate with hoodlums who were about. He lined them up in my service. We have captured most of the crew aboard this boat. We will take the others later.

“They will come out from cover after the shooting starts. For there will be shooting. You will die, Callard; the police will be glad to find your body. You also, captain, for I have told you all the facts. The law will believe that you had henchmen, Callard. It will be assumed that those henchmen escaped with the swag.”

Dolver paused and motioned to Lessing. The pistol expert raised his revolver, covering Jund while Dolver kept his own gun on Dave.

Dolver spoke to Cray and Partridge. The riflemen turned and headed for the deck. They were going to summon others, to help unload the swag.

“The law will be deceived,” gloated Dolver, advancing into the strong room, with Lessing moving with him. “The law was deceived before. Small wonder; for my plans were bold and daring, yet perfect in their execution. No one could possibly have guessed the part that I have played. No one—”

DOLVER stopped abruptly. His face hardened; so did Lessing’s. From behind them had come a strange whisper, a mocking tone that filled the strong room with an eerie chill.

Instinctively, the master crook and his henchman swung about, forgetting Dave and Jund. The prisoners could have pounced upon their captors; but they, too, were too astounded to budge.

Like Dolver and Lessing, Dave and Jund were staring into the mammoth muzzles of automatics that bulged from black-gloved fists. Behind those leveled guns were gleaming eyes, living coals that glared from under the brim of a slouch hat.

A cloaked form had entered the doorway. A previous intruder had been lurking outside the strong room, even before Dave Callard had come aboard. Captain Jund gasped as he recalled the lights of the autogyro; the sound of the clanking anchor chain.

The Shadow had anticipated crime. He had known who would be its maker. He had arrived to await Courtney Dolver. He had allowed the master crook to enter and reveal himself. Helpless and unmasked, Courtney Dolver was faced by the enemy of crime. The Shadow had divined Dolver’s deeds of evil.