DICTATOR OF CRIME
by Maxwell Grant
As originally published in "The Shadow Magazine," October 15, 1941
With $10,000,000 at stake could The Shadow overthrow the bloody tyrant of
the Caribbean and bring back peace and security?
CHAPTER I
A MATTER OF MILLIONS
THE Clipper smacked the blue of Biscayne Bay and settled into a lazy
squat, from which it taxied toward a landing. An audible sigh of relief came
from the roped-off crowd that lined the shore of Dinner Key. Little wonder that
the sigh was heard, for the throng was immense.
Seldom did the population of Miami, citizen and tourist, assemble en masse
at the Marine Airways Base to witness the arrival of a Clipper plane. But the
winged ship just in from the Caribbean was worthy of a huge turnout. Not only
because its passengers were something of celebrities, but because of the cargo
that they brought.
The plane was in from Centralba, a Caribbean republic long established but
recently renamed by its dictator, Luis Castenago, a "strong man" who masqueraded
under the title of president. The passengers on the Clipper were the militant
leaders of the anti-Castenago party: Colonel Jose Durez and a handful of
associates. What they were bringing with them was money, to the total of ten
million dollars.
Only this afternoon had the news broken that the coming revolution in
Centralba had been called off. Remarkable was the fact that it had been settled
on peaceful terms, with the iron-fisted Castenago sending his opponents into
banishment, instead of forcing them to meet the muzzle end of a firing squad.
Most extraordinary of all was the report, on positive authority, that
Durez and his faction had sold their holdings and concessions, at full price,
to the government of Centralba - which, in two words, meant Luis Castenago.
Singular that Castenago, of all persons, should have gone "genteel," for
wholesale assassinations had long been the Centralban substitute for politics,
with Castenago always supreme. Naturally, the facts led to rumors, of which
there were two that carried a strong degree of truth.
The first was that Castenago, planning a merger of several Caribbean
countries, with himself as head, felt that a show of leniency to opponents in
his own republic would win over adherents in neighboring republics.
The other rumor was that Durez, while plotting revolution, had wisely
gained the support of Francisco Peridor, former president of Centralba and idol
of the populace, whose friends - Durez now included - had never been attacked by
Castenago.
Of course, there was the fact that the United States was dickering for
defense bases in Centralba, but that had been no deterrent in Castenago's
killing off the opposition in the past, and therefore could have no bearing on
