 | #028 "The Shadow's Justice"
Vol. 5, No. 4 Published: 04/15/33 Submitted: 10/21/32 without a title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Mar 07, 2003 |
THE SHADOW'S JUSTICE was published in the April 15, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. It's an early Shadow tale that shows us The Shadow at his most deadly. His blasting .45's never miss. He shoots; he scores! And there's one less gangster to worry the police.
This is the story of young Carter Boswick and his search for his inheritance. It's the story of a conspiracy to murder him and collect the millions by the forces of evil. It's the story of The Shadow who enters the picture to not only safeguard young Carter, not only discover the hiding place of the treasure, but unmask the hidden mastermind behind the sinister scheme and put an end to his evil ways.
As our story opens, Farland Tracy, attorney at law, enters the old mansion of Houston Boswick. Tracy is still in his forties, firm-faced, square-jawed and stalwart with a dynamic air combined with self-assurance. Houston Boswick, owner of the mansion, is aged and weary. He's a man past sixty whose thin face marks him as one who has lost all former initiative.
The two meet in Boswick's second-floor study. Away from the prying ears of his servant Headley and his nephew Drew Westling, the two feel free to discuss old Houston Boswick's financial affairs. But little do they realize that ears are listening in on them. Two pairs of ears! One from outside the study door, and another pair outside the second-floor window.
The Shadow clings to the rough stone wall outside the study window, hanging far above the ground. Clinging bat-like to the side of the building, the weird phantom of the night overhears the secret conversation. But he's not the only one. Young nephew Drew Westling, slight of form, sallow of complexion and drooping in appearance, crouches outside the study door, also listening.
Old Houston Boswick tells his attorney that he hasn't long to live. He accepts the fact, but lives with one final hope: his son's return. Ten years before, young Carter Boswick had left to seek his fortune, traveling to many parts of the world. Old Houston has just received a letter from Carter stating that he is returning home. He should arrive in two weeks. But Houston feels he will not live to greet his son.
Houston Boswick entrusts two letters to his lawyer. One is for his son. The other is for his nephew. If young Carter returns as planned, Farland Tracy the attorney is to give him his letter and destroy the second one. But if, by some chance, he should not return, then the second letter is to be given to Drew Westling, the nephew.
The contents of the two letters are nearly identical. They give the heir hints as to the hiding place of his secret wealth. Old Houston Boswich has hidden away the majority of his wealth. To the world at large, Houston Boswick is worth about a million dollars. But unknown to the world, old Boswick has amassed ten times that amount and hidden it in some unknown spot.
Thus begins our tale of intrigue and mystery. It starts in the New Jersey mansion of Houston Boswick. It then moves to Havana, Cuba where young Carter Boswick stops off on his way home from Montevideo. There, attempts are made on his life. Attempts that are thwarted by The Shadow.
Our tale then moves aboard the Southern Star steamship as young Carter Boswick continues his travels homeward. But the danger has not passed. Whoever is out to kill young Carter continues to scheme. The Shadow must intervene once again, on the slippery decks of the ocean-bound steamship.
Will Carter Boswick return home safely, or will he meet his doom at the hands of persons unknown? Will he find the ten-million-dollar treasure, or will it fall to young Drew Westling? And what is the strange clue that leads to the hiding spot of the millions? Can even The Shadow find the secret location of old Houston Boswick's inheritance? The answers to these and more questions will all be found within this great early Shadow pulp mystery.
In this story, The Shadow appears most of the time as his black-clad self, with black gloves, cape and slouch hat. He briefly appears in disguise as Lamont Cranston, since the real Cranston is conveniently out of the country. And he also appears disguised as a Cuban thug named Herrando. But these disguises are only used sparingly.
Assisting The Shadow in this story is his secret agent Harry Vincent. He's the only agent to appear in this story. Contact man Burbank and investment broker Rutledge Mann are mentioned once, but don't actually appear. Nor do any law-enforcement officers appear. No mention is made of regulars Joe Cardona, Commissioner Weston or federal agent Vic Marquette.
It's interesting to note that in this story, The Shadow scales the outside of a building with his bare hands. Actually, gloved, not bare! He doesn't use those strange rubber disks that allow him to cling to stone walls. The suction cups had been introduced nearly a year before in "The Crime Cult" and had appeared in three other pulp novels since then, one just a month previously. But for some reason, Walter Gibson decided not to write them into this story.
It's also worth noting that once again The Shadow shows his careless disregard for his .45 automatics. In the heat of battle, he drops them to the floor when they are emptied, and whips out another pair from the folds of his black cloak. But he never bothers to retrieve the dropped pair. He just leaves them there. Since this seems to happen in many Shadow mysteries, it gives one pause to wonder about all the firearms left unclaimed for anyone to pick up. In the real world, this would seem to be a most irresponsible thing to do. But in this special pulp world, perhaps they are always picked up by the police in an ensuing, but unmentioned, investigation.
The Shadow's famous autogiro makes another appearance here. It first appeared in "The Death Tower" over a year previously. It appears here again, not just as a gratuitous apperance, but actually plays an important part in the discovery of the hiding place of the treasure. Without the autogiro, The Shadow would not have found it!
One final note, in this story we get to learn one more tid-bit of information about Harry Vincent. We are told that Harry seldom dreams. Just a casual comment. But helps add to the somewhat slim information we possess about The Shadow's main agent.