 | #086 "The London Crimes"
Vol. 15, No. 2 Published: 09/15/35 Submitted: 05/24/35 as "London Crime" Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Nov 16, 2001 |
THE LONDON CRIMES was originally published in the September 15, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. The Shadow has traveled to England to assist his old friend Inspector Erik Delka of Scotland Yard. He seeks a master criminal and expert at disguise known as The Harvester.
The Harvester has been thwarting London police for months. He deals in large-scale swindles and outright theft. He worms his way into a situation that allows for huge profit, by using a variety of disguises. For example, the distinguished and trusted Sir James Carliff cashed a bank draft for eight thousand pounds - forty thousand dollars. But after he left the bank, it was discovered that he was an impostor; The Harvester had struck.
Then there was a loan to be given Monsieur Pierre Garthou, the head of a French mining syndicate. Immediately after the funds were transfered, a fraud was suspected. But when Garthou was stopped by a representative of the banking house, Garthou produced a revolver and riddled him with bullets. It wasn't Garthou after all; it was The Harvester in disguise again.
The steamship Baroda was sunk. An explosion occurred on board, before the vessel had passed the Scilly Islands. All on board were lost. The owner, Lemuel Brodder appeared to collect his insurance. But... you guessed it. Once again, The Harvester was appearing in disguise.
So The Shadow has come to London to unmask The Harvester. Harry Vincent, his long-time agent, has also arrived in London to assist his master. With the assistance of Vincent and a bit of help from The Yard itself, The Shadow tracks down the suspects and eliminates them one-by-one. Until finally, there is the ultimate showdown in the drawing room of an old country estate. All the suspects are there. And one of them is The Harvester. Whew, what a story!
A few points of interest. At this time, the English pound was apparently worth ten dollars. The Harvester is after half a million pounds in loot, which the story tells us is close to five million dollars in American money. Wow, how times have changed! Today, the English pound is worth about $1.42. (This information courtesy of The Universal Currency Converter at http://www.xe.com/ucc/)
The Shadow isn't known for his gadgets. When you think of gadgets, you usually think of Doc Savage. But The Shadow had a few of his own. This story features a special roller for a typewriter. Inside the hollow roller is unique ribbon and coil of paper that keeps a record of what has been typed upon that typewriter. In this story, Harry Vincent replaces the roller on a suspect's typewriter with this special roller of The Shadow's recent invention. Later he retrieves it, and is able to read what the suspect has typed. I don't think I've seen this one mentioned before.
The Shadow's power over animals is again demonstrated in this story. Two fierce watchdogs are guarding the gangsters' hideout. As The Shadow skulks closer, they detect him and attack. He makes a hissing noise that stops them short. After a few moments, they are sitting docile creatures, obeying his every command. Wow, how does he do that?
The Shadow is also a master of languages. In various stories through the series, The Shadow has demonstrated the ability to speak Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Afghan, French, German, Russian, Spanish Gypsy, and Esperanto. In this story, he shows his ability to understand Hindustani. Pretty impressive...
All in all, this is one of the best of the series. It's a story that just keeps getting better and better.