It’s time for another in my rotating series of The Shadow two-minute mysteries. Or maybe three minutes. Can you solve the mystery along with The Shadow? That may take more than two minutes. Just look at the clews (or “clues,” as it’s spelled these days), and test your sleuthing skills.
This mini-mystery originally appeared on my old Shadow in Review website. Perhaps you’ll remember it, and remember the solution, as well. Perhaps your memory is better than mine…
This mystery is based upon the original pulp character, The Shadow and his aides. Black cloak, slouch hat… you know.
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 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 regalia of black and prepares to battle crime. It’s time for action and mystery. The Shadow knows!
Return of the Gray Ghost
Clyde Burke, reporter for the Daily Classic, sauntered into the office of Det. Joe Cardona, Manhattan’s top sleuth.
“What’s new, Joe?”
Cardona looked up with a grim smile. “Remember the Gray Ghost?”
“Sure. It wasn’t that long ago. Thief. Murderer. And…”
“…and dead.” Cardona finished Burke’s sentence for him. “But somehow, it looks like he’s back.”
“What happened?” Burke pulled out his pad and pencil.
“We were called to the Priorwood estate, out on the shore of Long Island Sound,” Cardona began. “A magnificent mansion on extensive rolling grounds with manicured lawns. We arrived shortly after one in the morning and found Jerril Priorwood waiting for us.
“As young Priorwood tells it, he was coming downstairs around midnight. Out of his study bounded a man dressed in skintight garments of gray, including gloves and hood. In one hand he carried Priorwood’s jewel box, in the other a small revolver. He brandished the gun but didn’t fire; ran out the open front door. Priorwood called us immediately.
“Checking outside, we found footprints that led across the grounds down to a small dock on the edge of the Sound. Apparently, he escaped by water.
“We went back and examined the scene of the crime. The Gray Ghost had entered by the front door, sawing through a steel bolt to do so. Apparently he went directly to the safe in the downstairs study.
“He didn’t use explosives on the safe, probably because of the noise. The lock had been drilled and the contents of the safe removed. Young Priorwood told us the safe had contained a valuable collection of jewels acquired only recently. The Gray Ghost got them all.
“We searched the inside of the house, the outside of the house and the surrounding area, hoping to find a mask, gloves or any other physical evidence. But we came up empty-handed. He vanished completely; just like a ghost!”
“What a story!” Burke whistled. “Thanks, Joe I gotta run!”
Burke hurried out of the station house and into a tobacco shop farther down the block. Inside a phone booth, he dialed a number unrecorded in any telephone book.
“Burbank,” an even-toned voice answered.
Burke gave his report in detail and then hung up. He stayed in the booth waiting for instructions from The Shadow.
A few minutes later, the phone rang and Burke picked it up to hear Burbank’s monotone: “Have Cardona hold Priorwood. His story is flawed.”
WHY DOES THE SHADOW SUSPECT PRIORWOOD’S STORY?
■ ■ ■
[learn_more caption=”Click here for the solution.”]Where was the hacksaw used to cut the bolt on the front door? Where was the drill used to crack the safe? From Priorwood’s description of The Gray Ghost’s skintight garments, he couldn’t have been carrying them. And the police didn’t find them in their search of the house and grounds. Priorwood’s story is flawed.
It’s more likely that Priorwood set up the theft himself to claim the insurance on the gems. It wasn’t the Gray Ghost. The Shadow knows!
[/learn_more]■ ■ ■
Background notes
This story is a sequel of sorts to the 1936 mystery “The Gray Ghost,” featured in The Shadow Magazine. As in this story, the title villain in that pulp story wore a skintight outfit of gray, including hood and gloves. And he was a jewel thief. He robbed the rich out on Long Island and often made his escape by boat. Of course in the end, he died. And although, in this current tale, Jerril Priorwood claimed he had returned, he was truly dead. He was never brought back in the pulp series by author Walter Gibson, nor was he here. It was all a ruse.
In the early years of the pulp magazine, reporter Clyde Burke and Det. Joe Cardona didn’t get along very well. But as time progressed, the two worked together quite often, and a rapport developed between them. Cardona would often give information to Burke when he would give it to no other reporter. And Burke was welcome at police headquarters and in Joe’s office, when other reporters were kept in the press room.
In this story, you can see how well the two man work together. There’s no animosity between the two. They assist each other and respect the other.
What happened to the tools?
Surely a drill would make its own noise when worked on a safe’s lock! The Shadow knew!