{"id":1560,"date":"2017-07-21T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/?p=1560"},"modified":"2017-07-28T10:53:50","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T14:53:50","slug":"tmm-8-return-of-the-gray-ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/2017\/07\/21\/tmm-8-return-of-the-gray-ghost\/","title":{"rendered":"TMM #8: Return of the Gray Ghost"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A series of puzzlers starring a classic pulp figure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s time for another in my rotating series of The Shadow<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

This mini-mystery originally appeared on my old Shadow in Review<\/em> website. Perhaps you’ll remember it, and remember the solution, as well. Perhaps your memory is better than mine…<\/p>\n

This mystery is based upon the original pulp character, The Shadow and his aides. Black cloak, slouch hat… you know.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Feel free to leave your solution in the comments section below. It may be better than mine!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s time for action and mystery. The Shadow knows!<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/thepulp.net\/media\/the-weed-of-crime.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/strong><\/div>\n

Return of the Gray Ghost<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Clyde Burke, reporter for the Daily Classic<\/em>, sauntered into the office of Det. Joe Cardona, Manhattan\u2019s top sleuth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s new, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardona looked up with a grim smile. \u201cRemember the Gray Ghost?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure. It wasn\u2019t that long ago. Thief. Murderer. And…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c…and dead.\u201d Cardona finished Burke\u2019s sentence for him. \u201cBut somehow, it looks like he\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Gray Ghost strikes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Burke pulled out his pad and pencil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were called to the Priorwood estate, out on the shore of Long Island Sound,\u201d Cardona began. \u201cA magnificent mansion on extensive rolling grounds with manicured lawns. We arrived shortly after one in the morning and found Jerril Priorwood waiting for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs 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\u2019s jewel box, in the other a small revolver. He brandished the gun but didn\u2019t fire; ran out the open front door. Priorwood called us immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cChecking 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.<\/p>\n

\"Clyde<\/a>
Clyde Burke of the Daily Classic<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a story!\u201d Burke whistled. \u201cThanks, Joe I gotta run!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>
Joe Cardona, ace sleuth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurbank,\u201d an even-toned voice answered.<\/p>\n

Burke gave his report in detail and then hung up. He stayed in the booth waiting for instructions from The Shadow.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, the phone rang and Burke picked it up to hear Burbank\u2019s monotone: \u201cHave Cardona hold Priorwood. His story is flawed.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHY DOES THE SHADOW SUSPECT PRIORWOOD\u2019S STORY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/strong><\/p>\n[learn_more caption=”Click here for the solution.”]\n

Where was the hacksaw used to cut the bolt on the front door? Where was the drill used to crack the safe? From Priorwood\u2019s description of The Gray Ghost\u2019s skintight garments, he couldn\u2019t have been carrying them. And the police didn\u2019t find them in their search of the house and grounds. Priorwood\u2019s story is flawed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more likely that Priorwood set up the theft himself to claim the insurance on the gems. It wasn\u2019t the Gray Ghost. The Shadow knows!<\/p>\n[\/learn_more]\n

\u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Original<\/a>
Original pulp cover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Background notes<\/h3>\n

This story is a sequel of sorts to the 1936 mystery \u201cThe Gray Ghost,\u201d featured in The Shadow Magazine<\/em>. 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<\/strong> claimed he had returned, he was truly dead. He was never brought back in the pulp series by author Walter Gibson<\/strong>, nor was he here. It was all a ruse.<\/p>\n

In the early years of the pulp magazine, reporter Clyde Burke<\/strong> and Det. Joe Cardona<\/strong> didn\u2019t 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\u2019s office, when other reporters were kept in the press room.<\/p>\n

In this story, you can see how well the two man work together. There\u2019s no animosity between the two. They assist each other and respect the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"That's Pulp! presents two-minute mystery #8: Return of the Gray Ghost #pulpmags","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[1,62,166],"tags":[204,233,232,234,27,160],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-1560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pulp","category-the-shadow","category-two-minute-mystery","tag-burbank","tag-clyde-burke","tag-joe-cardona","tag-the-gray-ghost","tag-the-shadow","tag-walter-gibson"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/files\/2017\/07\/pulp-cover.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6SOGR-pa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1617,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions\/1617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=1560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}