TMM #7: The Death Token of Kublai Khan

Here is another in this rotating series of The Shadow two-minute mysteries. Okay, so it may take a bit more than two minutes… but it’s close. Read it, then test your sleuthing skills to solve the mystery.

This mini-mystery originally appeared on my Shadow in Review” website. The one presented here today was one of those. Did you read it the first time? Do you remember the solution?

This mystery is based upon the original 1930s pulp character, The Shadow. Not the radio version. No clouding men’s minds, here. Just a black cloak and slouch hat.

The solution, not necessarily the only solution, but the one the author had in mind, will appear (below) next Friday. That gives you time to mull over the crime.

Feel free to leave your solution in the comments section below. It may well be better than mine!

Finally, there are some background notes at the end of the story. They’ll explain a bit more about the characters and situations in this mini-mystery, and their part in the larger universe of the pulp Shadow.

You are about to enter the pulp world of the 1930s. Join The Shadow as he dons his black cloak, slouch hat, and gloves, and prepares to battle crime. It’s time for action and mystery. The Shadow knows!

The Death Token of Kublai Khan

The rear of the taxi appeared empty, but from that black void came a sibilant whisper:

“Pull over.”

Moe Shrevnitz, Manhattan’s cleverest hackie, pulled the taxi up to the curb where an elderly gentleman bent over a prone body on the sidewalk. The man straightened up as Moe approached.

“I warned him something like this would happen,” came his high wavery voice. “But he wouldn’t listen.”

“Warned him about what?” asked Moe, looking down at the still form.

“He was always jingling that death token in his pocket, as though it was a lucky charm,” the old man continued. “I warned him it would draw danger.”

“You know this man?” Moe queried.

“Yes, his name’s Dunward. Stanton Dunward. My name’s Cooper. Winthel Cooper. I live in the rooming house, here.” He gestured to the brownstone behind him.

“Dunward lived in the apartment across the hall. I warned him, but he wouldn’t listen. Just 10 minutes ago I heard him leave his apartment, still jingling that death token in his pocket.

“When I came out, just now, I found his body here. I was bending over to examine him when you drove up.”

“What is this ‘death token’ you mention?” asked Moe.

“It’s a rare 13th-century silver talisman approximately the size and weight of a half-dollar. It was a gift to Marco Polo from Kublai Khan.

“It’s called the ‘death token’ because Kublai Khan mysteriously died shortly after Marco Polo left China. It’s claimed the magic that protected Kublai Khan left with him.”

“Does this talisman have any value?” Moe asked, as he bent down to search the body.

“Oh yes, it’s quite valuable. But the old skinflint wouldn’t part with it for any price. He’d rather live in this shabby old rooming house, than sell it and live in luxury.”

Moe found the death token in the right pocket of Dunward’s shiny trousers. It hadn’t been stolen. The only other articles in his pockets were a week-old laundry ticket, a worn-out handkerchief monogrammed with the letter “S,” and a thin, leather wallet containing a single dollar bill.

“He called it his lucky piece,” said Cooper bitterly. “But it signified death!”

The cloaked shape of The Shadow appeared from the blackened interior of the taxi. Glowing eyes looked deep into Winthel Cooper. “It may signify the death chair… for you!”

WHY DOES THE SHADOW SUSPECT COOPER OF COMPLICITY IN THIS CRIME?

■ ■ ■

Cooper claimed he heard Dunward jingling the death token in his pocket as he left his apartment ten minutes earlier. But there was nothing metal in his pockets for it to strike against. Cooper’s story was fabricated. The Shadow knows!
[/learn_more]

■ ■ ■

Background notes

This story is rooted in historial fact. Marco Polo actually did visit China during the reign of Kublai Khan. When he was a young lad of 21, he arrived in China. He was employed by Kublai Khan for 17 years before he left in 1292. During Polo’s voyage back to Venice, Kublai Khan died at the age of 79. The mini-mystery presented here, however, takes some liberties. Khan’s death was not mysterious. He was quite old for those times, and died a natural death. And the silver talisman — the death token — is fiction, pure and simple.

Moe Shrevnitz, the taxi driver featured in this story, was another of The Shadow’s many agents. He was a major player in the pulp novels, appearing in over a 140 stories. He was described as one of the cleverest hackies in New York. He knew the city like the back of his hand.

The Shadow owned the taxicab that Moe drove. Moe’s duties for The Shadow could be many. Sometimes he would chauffeur The Shadow from one place to another. With his knowledge of Manhattan, he could get his master there faster than anyone else. Other times, he would be needed to follow a suspect. He had the uncanny ability to tail another vehicle without losing it, even if it were trying to shake him off its trail.

Moe Shrevnitz first appeared in the 1934 story “The Chinese Disks.” Moe was another person who had originally been saved by The Shadow and then later enlisted into his service. Moe proved to be a valuable and trusted agent over the years, making his final appearance in the 1948 story “Dead Man’s Chest.”

Moe was one of the few characters to appear both in the pulp series and the radio series of The Shadow. On the radio show, The Shadow needed a male assistant in addition to his female aide, Margo Lane. So Moe was brought over from the pulp magazines. But, unlike in the pulps, on the radio he was given the nickname “Shrevvie.” His actual last name of Shrevnitz was only mentioned on the air once or twice.

In the pulp magazines, Moe went without nickname until 1941 when the radio character of Margo Lane was added to the pulp stories. At that time, Moe began to be called Shrevvie and the nickname seemed to stick. In subsequent years, Moe was called by his given name less and less, and increasingly he was just Shrevvie.