 | #020 "Kings of Crime"
Vol. 4, No. 2 Published: 12/15/32 Submitted: 06/03/32 as "The Crime Syndicate" Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Jan 18, 2002 |
KINGS OF CRIME was originally published in the December 15,1932 issue of The Shadow Magazine. This is one of those stories that's so good, it was reprinted in the early 1970's in paperback form. But since the paperback reprints were so often edited, I've gone back to the original pulp source to present this one for you. Yes, directly from the pulp magazine, you can now get the complete unedited version.
There were five kings of crime: Big Tom Bagshawe was the proprietor of a chain of palatial gambling houses, the newest located in the ocean resort of Seaview City. Shifter Reeves was a drug lord and fiend of the underworld, whose operations were so cunningly conducted that police had never managed to place their hands upon him. Hooks Borglund could get his "hooks" into anything illegal, and did with great regularity. Herbert Carpenter was a blackmailer; but not just any petty blackmailer, he went for millions. The fifth and final king of crime was the hidden leader Wheels Bryant. No one knew his identity or even saw his face. But he had a secret "in" in Seaview City, and ran the entire show.
The honest citizens of Seaview City were represented on the Public Safety Committee by five honorable members. Rufus Cruikshank was the newly elected mayor of Seaview City. Police chief George Yates was his right-hand man. Louis Helwig was one of the largest promoters of Seaview City. Raymond Coates was the principal real-estate dealer in Seaview City. And Graham Hurley was the owner and manager of the luxurious Hotel Pavilion. Five honest men to counteract the five kings of crime!
The story opens as The Shadow, safely in his Manhattan sanctum, warns the Public Safety Committee of impending crime via a radio broadcast. But they ignore the warning, and crime begins to rear its ugly head.
First is gambling, which takes place above the luxurious Club Catalina. But The Shadow appears as Lamont Cranston, breaks the bank, and wipes up the floor with the gangsters when they try to take their money back. The gunplay ends in a raid of Big Tom Bagshawe's gambling joint.
Next, The Shadow thwarts one of Herbert Carpenter's blackmail schemes. Gifford Morton is the intended victim, but not for long. Carpenter is captured, a backup crew of gangsters is eliminated by The Shadow, and Carpenter is thrown in jail.
By this time, the Public Safety Committee realizes that The Shadow's warning was accurate, and crime has struck Seaview City! Shifter Reeves has drugs pouring into Seaview City, and Police Chief Yates is pouring all his resources into the fight. But someone on the Public Safety Committee seems to be working against him. Some mysterious member of the committee may be thwarting his efforts. Could that mysterious someone be the hidden leader Wheels Bryant?
About halfway through the story, Herbert Carpenter escapes jail to wreak revenge on his former partners for their betrayal. Gradually, he turns against crime and regrets his former life. For the last half of the story, he becomes an agent of The Shadow and is our proxy hero. He knows when he has finished aiding The Shadow and has broken the gang known as the Kings of Crime, he will have to go back to jail to finish serving his ten-year sentence. But he's determined to assist The Shadow and stop the evil.
So the story not only becomes a classic crime drama, it is also a story of redemption of one man's evil. A nice touch, not often seen in The Shadow stories.
Usually in these stories, The Shadow's sanctum is described as velvety blackness with only a single blue light illuminating a desktop. In this story, it was interesting to note that the sanctum is described as being in purplish gloom. Maybe The Shadow as looking for a little change of pace in his color scheme?
It's also interesting to note that The Shadow appears in public with his famous girasol ring showing. Most often, it appears only when he appears as his black-robed self, when he removes his black gloves. But occasionally he appeared in public as Lamont Cranston wearing it. And he does so here.
This novel marks the first appearance of The Shadow's unusual disguise as Mr. Phineas Twambley, the old gentleman of quavering voice. He only appears briefly to lure Herbert Carpenter to capture. He would appear a month later in THE CREEPING DEATH.
A couple of other quick notes about the story. In the climax, The Shadow fires a rifle grenade to stop the bad guys. I don't think I've ever seen him use this World War I weapon before. And his autogyro makes an appearance to whisk him off to safety, although we aren't told who is piloting it.