{"id":809,"date":"2016-09-23T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/?p=809"},"modified":"2017-01-26T22:24:16","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T03:24:16","slug":"the-grove-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/2016\/09\/23\/the-grove-of-death\/","title":{"rendered":"TMM #1: The Grove of Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A series of puzzlers starring a classic pulp figure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This week, I present you with a chance to match wits with The Shadow<\/a><\/strong>. Below you will find a short Shadow mystery. It will take about two minutes to read. The Shadow will solve the case, but you won’t be told exactly how. You are challenged to solve the mystery yourself; all the clews are there. (Yes, I spelled it clews<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

This mini-mystery originally appeared on my old Shadow in Review<\/em> website. There were a series of 262 of these Two-Minute Shadow Mysteries<\/em> posted between 2003 and 2008. The one presented here today was one of those.<\/p>\n

This mystery is based upon the original 1930s pulp character, The Shadow. He had no supernatural abilities; he was simply a man; a top physical and intellectual specimen. He haunted the dark streets of Manhattan in a black cloak and black slouch hat that rendered him “virtually” invisible, allowing him to blend into the shadows. He was a crime fighter of the highest rank. And it is upon this pulp character that this solve-it-yourself mystery is based.<\/p>\n

Solving this type of mini-mystery is somewhat similar to discovering a magician\u2019s secrets. If you aren\u2019t told the secret to a magic trick, you may puzzle over it for days. Yet as soon as you are given the secret, you feel somewhat disappointed by its simplicity. But it\u2019s a deceptive simplicity. The solution to this mystery is much the same. If you read the solution today, you might feel let down by its simplicity. The solution… well, the author’s solution, anyway… will appear next week. So, in the meantime, try to figure it out for yourself. It\u2019s much more satisfying.<\/p>\n

Feel free to leave your<\/em> solution in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

At the end of this mystery, you will find some background notes on the story. Be sure to read them to learn how the characters and situations presented in the mystery are part of the original Shadow pulp universe.<\/p>\n

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\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

The Grove of Death<\/h3>\n
\"<\/a>
Beechview Country Club, and beyond… the Grove of Death!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New York Police Commissioner Ralph Weston<\/strong> and his good friend Lamont Cranston<\/strong> were on the golf course of the Beechview Country Club. Beyond a thick grove of copper beech trees, lay the sparkling waters of Long Island Sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen!\u201d Commissioner Weston commanded. \u201cA gunshot!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came from inside the grove,\u201d Cranston responded, as they hurried toward the large expanse of tall coppery trees.<\/p>\n

As the two neared the treeline, a young man burst from beneath the thickly interleaved branches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich way did he go?\u201d He looked frantically, seeing no one other than the two men heading toward him. \u201cQuick, help me! Uncle Harvey has been shot in the head!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo with him, commissioner,\u201d Cranston rapped. \u201cI\u2019ll circle the grove toward the Sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Weston followed the stranger into the dim silence beneath the thick boughs of the beeches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Barton Ware<\/strong>. Harvey Chittenden<\/strong> is my uncle. We were taking a cool walk through the grove. I sat down to relax; Uncle Harvey strolled toward the Sound. He wasn\u2019t out of sight for more than five minutes when I heard a gunshot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere!\u201d He pointed to a huddled shape on the brownish ground \u2014 grassless, yet peculiarly matted.<\/p>\n

\"Harvey<\/a>
Harvey Chittenden lay dead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two men knelt to examine the prone figure. Harvey Chittenden lay with a single bullet wound to the temple. He was dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened after you heard the shot?\u201d asked Weston, somberly.<\/p>\n

As Barton Ware began to explain, a dark figure moved silently closer through the beech trees. The Shadow was present, listening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I was confused; sounds are muffled in the grove. I jumped up and rounded the tree. A man came running from this direction and knocked me down. He appeared to be Oriental. I took up the chase, but when I exited the grove, he was gone. All I saw was you and your friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weston asked, \u201cWhere are you staying?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying at Lower Beechview, the cottage on the far side of the grove.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there anyone else there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying there alone. Uncle Harvey has been living at Upper Beechview, on the hill, ever since the murders at Lower Beechview years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea why anyone would wish your uncle\u2019s death?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell…\u201d Ware began slowly, \u201cback then, there was talk of a curse. The name Koon Woon<\/strong>…\u201d<\/p>\n

The cloaked figure of The Shadow seemed to materialize beneath the thick-leafed coppery branches. His voice hissed in the ominous silence of the dimly lit grove:<\/p>\n

\u201cKoon Woon is no more. This talk of an Oriental assailant is fabrication. The true murderer of Harvey Chittenden stands here, commissioner: Barton Ware!\u201d<\/p>\n

WHY DOES THE SHADOW ACCUSE BARTON WARE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Barton Ware knew his uncle had been shot in the head when he met Cranston and Weston. Yet he later claimed to have chased the murderer immediately, without having seen his uncle. There was no way he could have known the location of the fatal wound, unless… His guilty knowledge points to him as the killer. The Shadow knows!<\/p>\n[\/learn_more]\n

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

Background notes<\/h3>\n
\"Pulp<\/a>
Pulp magazine cover for “The Grove of Doom.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most beloved and famous of The Shadow\u2019s many pulp adventures is \u201cThe Grove of Doom,\u201d originally published in 1933. The mini-mystery above takes the reader back to that famous grove of coppery beech trees. The Beechview Country Club, the golf course that tapers down to the acres of sinister beech trees, Lower Beechview on the edge of the Long Island Sound and Upper Beechview on the cliffs to the west. All are back.<\/p>\n

In the original story, Harvey Chittenden was threatened by some unknown power that lived in the grove. Koon Woon was the power that killed Harvey\u2019s father and two brothers. It took all The Shadow\u2019s might to defeat Koon Woon. (I won’t spoil the secret of Koon Woon to those of you who have not yet read the story.)<\/p>\n

In this story, the sole remaining Chittenden, Harvey, has returned. Here, he meets his demise at the hands of his nephew, Barton Ware, just as his family had succumbed, three years earlier, to the evil machinations of Craig Ware<\/strong>, Barton\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

The strange and mysterious Koon Woon had been defeated three years previous to this story \u2014 killed beneath the coppery branches of the beech grove. But death now has struck anew in that grove of doom. And once again The Shadow has brought the killer to justice!<\/p>\n

The foreboding grove of beech trees will be visited again, in future blog entries. In the future, you can read \u201cThe Grove of Mystery,\u201d \u201cThe Ghost of Koon Woon,\u201d and \u201cThe Haunted Grove.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a telephone book! It’s a Sears Roebuck catalog! No, it’s a reference book: The Shadow in Review: The Ultimate Guide to the Pulp Magazine Series<\/em><\/a>. And, if you haven’t ordered yours yet… but, wait. Of course you have. I’m preaching to the choir, here.<\/p>\n

But if for some reason you’ve been putting it off, just click here<\/a> to orders your copy direct from the printer for the low, low cost of only $10 plus shipping. You know you want one. Maybe two…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, I present you with a chance to match wits with The Shadow. Below you will find a short Shadow mystery. It will take about two minutes to read. The Shadow will solve the case, but you won’t be told exactly how. You are challenged to solve the mystery yourself; all the clews are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":793,"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 a two-minute mystery, The Grove of Death, featuring The Shadow. #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":[182,164,165,33,27,181,72],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pulp","category-the-shadow","category-two-minute-mystery","tag-commissioner-weston","tag-grove-of-doom","tag-koon-woon","tag-lamont-cranston","tag-the-shadow","tag-two-minute-mysteries","tag-warner-bros-pictures"],"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\/2016\/08\/Clock.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6SOGR-d3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","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=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1247,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/1247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/thatspulp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}