 | #084 "The Creeper"
Vol. 14, No. 6 Published: 08/15/35 Submitted: 01/11/35 under the same title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Jul 06, 2001 |
THE CREEPER was originally published in the August 15, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Tobias Clavelock, the lawyer for the Doyd estate, called the heirs together for the reading of the will. As legatees of Bigelow Doyd, the soap king, recently deceased, they were due to inherit millions! Bigelow Doyd's wealth lay in his collections of valuable gems and art treasures. But only Bigelow Doyd knew the place where these valuables were stored.
The assembled heirs included Mr. Egbert Doyd, a hunched-shouldered, sickly faced man who looked more than sixty - an invalid. Miss Mehitabel Doyd, sister of the deceased Bigelow Doyd - an old lady who was in her eighties. Miss Theresa Doyd - granddaughter of Bigelow Doyd. Mark Lundig a second cousin - a shrewd, sharp-faced man - gray-streaked hair - large spectacles. And Mr. Donald Shiloh - a relative of Bigelow Doyd's first wife. A descendant of another branch of the family.
The total estate was to be divided equally among all eligible heirs. The catch? Old Bigelow Doyd had hidden his wealth. According to his will, the secret hiding place was written in code and placed in an ebony casket. But the black wooden box that contained the secret of Bigelow Doyd's wealth has disappeared!
The heirs are out to find the coded clue to the fabulous treasure. But they aren't alone. Someone else was planning to gain his share of the spoils - The Creeper!
The Creeper gets his name from his stealthy footsteps. Strange footsteps - creeping footsteps that seemed remote. Trying to locate them was impossible. First they seemed to be downstairs; then they were on the second floor. There was something terrible about those footsteps. They were creaky, almost ghostly.
The Creeper heads three separate bands of gangland's most ruthless hoodlums. Rick Parrin controlled a force of fake salesmen; Zimmer Funson, the bookie, headed his coterie of touts; and Reggie Spaylor, silent partner in a gymnasium, where boxers and wrestlers were on hand to serve as thugs. Such were the lieutenants of The Creeper.
Into this strange situation steps The Shadow and his agents. They are out to thwart the evil plans of The Creeper. Can they do it? Who is The Creeper? What is the strange countersign known only to The Creeper and his men? And where is the fortune hidden? Can The Shadow deal not only with The Creeper, but with the supercrook's fully assembled hordes? All this will be revealed when you read this Shadow mystery novel.
In this story, we initially see Lamont Cranston. But he disappears a third of the way into the story, and the rest of the action is taken up solely by The Shadow. All of his main agents appear: Moe Shrevnitz, Harry Vincent, Cliff Marsland, Clyde Burke, Hawkeye, Rutledge Mann, and the faithful Burbank. Acting Inspector Joe Cardona appears as the law's representative.
One somewhat jarring note in this story regards our favorite cabman, the hackie extraordinaire, Moe Shrevnitz. We know from countless stories that he's the best there is. Nothing gets past Moe. Yet in this story, we are told that Moe was sometimes lax in watching backward to see if his cab happened to have another on its trail. Huh? Not the Moe that I know! The Moe I know would always keep a sharp eye on his trail. Hey, let's not go disrespecting the man, here! I'll chalk it up to a momentary lapse on the part of Walter Gibson...