CHAPTER XIV
THE ELUSIVE MR. SHEI
Spasmodically The Gray Phantom pressed the receiver closer to his ear.The laughter at the other end of the wire rose to a shrill crescendo,then ended abruptly in a harsh and discordant twang.
"Helen!" shouted The Phantom.
No answer came; nothing but a muffled thud that sounded as if theperson at the other end had suddenly dropped the receiver. His facewhite, The Phantom turned to Miss Dale.
"Are you convinced now?" she murmured, a silken smile hovering abouther lips. "And don't you think you had better obey Mr. Shei's wishesand leave the city immediately?"
The Phantom mopped the clammy perspiration from his forehead. A momentago his face had been distorted from horror; now a look of rageglittered menacingly in his eyes. "Mr. Shei will pay for this," hemuttered thickly. "When I have finished with him, he will wish he hadnever been born."
"And just what do you propose to do?" Miss Dale airily waved her slim,white hand. "As a measure of self-protection, knowing that he couldnot control you by any other means, Mr. Shei has caused Miss Hardwickto be inoculated with the same malady that killed Miss Darrow, andwhich will kill seven of the city's wealthiest men unless they complywith his wishes. There is only one thing which can save her, and thatis the antidote. It is in the possession of a Malayan scientist, oneof Mr. Shei's most devoted followers, and it will be administered onlywhen you have carried out the terms I have explained to you."
The Phantom stood silent while trying to fight down the surge ofemotions that threatened to swamp his reason. Suddenly his roving gazewas fixed on the numbered tag above the mouthpiece of the telephoneinstrument. His lids contracted a little.
"Brilliant idea, my dear Phantom," drawled Miss Dale. "For once youare quite transparent. It is your intention, as soon as you leave myapartment, to call up the telephone exchange and trace the call, thuslearning Miss Hardwick's whereabouts. It would be simple, for it was along-distance connection, and such calls are always recorded. I willsave you the trouble, however. Miss Hardwick is at Azurecrest."
"Azurecrest?" echoed The Phantom, momentarily a trifle dazed.
Miss Dale seemed to find his perplexity highly amusing. "When Mr. Sheilearned the place was for sale, he bought it anonymously through anagent. It seemed an ideal spot for certain experiments he had in mind.Hoping to find you there, Miss Hardwick went to Azurecrest the dayafter Miss Darrow's death, and for divers reasons it was thought bestto detain her."
The Phantom muttered an exclamation. Slade had lied to him, then, whenThe Phantom had called up Azurecrest earlier in the day and inquiredfor Miss Hardwick. Slade, he now suspected, was one of Mr. Shei'sagents, and under the circumstances it was not surprising that he haddisclaimed all knowledge of Helen. The Phantom might not have acceptedhis denial so readily if he had had the faintest inkling that Mr. Sheiwas the present owner of his former retreat.
Suddenly he whirled round on his heels and started abruptly from theroom.
"Wait a moment," commanded Miss Dale as he reached the door, and asubtle quality in her tone caused him to stop. "How impulsive you are,my dear Phantom. I suppose you mean to rush madly off to Azurecrestand rescue the fair damsel. Stop and think for a moment. Surely youdon't imagine I would have told you Miss Hardwick's whereabouts unlessI had been absolutely certain that you were powerless to act."
The Phantom saw the weight of the argument at once. He moved away fromthe door.
"Glad you are willing to listen to reason," murmured Miss Dale. "Yousee, you could accomplish nothing at all by going to Azurecrest alone.The place is very carefully guarded by a little army of picked men,not to mention a few savage dogs. Of course, you might ask the policefor assistance, supposing that you were on good terms with them, butwhat would be the result? If Mr. Shei and his followers are put injail, Miss Hardwick will die, and so will the seven others. In fact,if anything at all happens to Mr. Shei and the members of hisorganization, the antidote will be irrevocably lost. I believe yougrasp the idea, don't you?"
The Phantom's expression showed that he did. There was a baffled lookin his eye that testified to his thorough appreciation of Mr. Shei'singenious precautions.
"In other words," Miss Dale went on, her tones now soft and purring,"you have the best reasons in the world for not wishing the police toannoy Mr. Shei. In a way, Mr. Shei has compelled you to become an allyof his as a result of having Miss Hardwick in his power. It is reallyan excellent arrangement. And the police, when they understand thesituation, will not be inclined to risk the lives of the seven wealthymen by forcing Mr. Shei to take extreme measures. Ah, you arebeginning to understand at last that Mr. Shei is practicallyinvulnerable."
"So it would seem," mumbled The Phantom, at last finding his voice.
"And don't you think you had better be reasonable and accept Mr.Shei's conditions? If you decide to be sensible, the antidote will beadministered to Miss Hardwick as soon as Mr. Shei's plans areconsummated, and she will not be one whit the worse off for herexperience. On the other hand, if you choose to be disagreeable----"Miss Dale paused significantly.
The Phantom's tense face bespoke a great mental effort. One by one hereviewed the details of Mr. Shei's brilliant precautions. He could notsee a loop-hole anywhere. As far as his imagination could stretch, theonly result of obstinacy would be certain death for Helen. Yet the cupof defeat was a bitter draft. Never before had The Gray Phantomsurrendered to any man; but now the life of one dear to him was indanger. He made his decision promptly.
"Mr. Shei wins," he announced with a bow. Then he walked out,oblivious of the triumphant smile that curled Miss Dale's lips. Hisbrow was clouded as he descended in the elevator and walked out on thesidewalk. He was aware that the dragnet was thrown out and that he wasendangering his liberty by going about so boldly, but arrest andimprisonment seemed a minor matter now. For the first time in his lifehe was a defeated man. Worse still, he could not rid himself of fearsconcerning Helen's safety.
Presently he paused as a new and even more disturbing thought flashedthrough his mind. He had accepted Mr. Shei's terms in the hope that bydoing so he would insure Helen's safety. He wondered if he had beentoo gullible, and he dodged into a doorway while considering thequestion. He had been under a terrific tension the past few days, andhis mind had not been working with its customary agility. Now itoccurred to him that he had nothing but Miss Dale's word for it thatHelen's life would be spared if he yielded to Mr. Shei's terms. He hadrelied on her promise, not because of blind faith in her, but ratherbecause Mr. Shei would gain nothing by killing Helen. He was merelyusing her as a means of suasion whereby to hold The Phantom in leashand prevent interference with his plans, and once she had served hispurpose there was no reason why he should do her harm.
But The Phantom was far from satisfied. At Azurecrest, Helen must haveheard and seen things that if divulged would constitute a great dangerto Mr. Shei and his organization. Her keen perceptions and inquisitivenature were always delving into whatever was strange and mysterious.Would Mr. Shei dare let her live after her usefulness to him was past?Again, as he repeatedly asked himself the question, a coldperspiration broke out on The Phantom's brow.
Once more he made a quick decision, completely reversing the one hehad made in Miss Dale's presence. He glanced quickly at his watch. Ifhe remembered correctly, there would be a train for Azurecrest insidetwenty minutes. Single-handed, relying only on his quick wits andagile strength, he would beard the lion in his den.
But first he was anxious to learn whether Culligore had made anyprogress toward clearing up the other phases of the mystery,particularly in regard to Mr. Fairspeckle. He entered a convenienttelephone booth and called up the police department. Luck was withhim, for after a brief delay he heard Culligore's voice over the wire.
"Oh, Fairspeckle! Why, he's vamoosed. Slipped away right from underthe eyes of a doctor and a nurse. Can you beat it?"
The Phantom's veins tingled as he hung up. Fairspeckle's disappearancewas fin
al proof that he had correctly guessed the identity of Mr.Shei.