ROOM OF DOOM
by Maxwell Grant
As originally published in "The Shadow Magazine," April 1, 1942.
Murder or suicide? - that was the question The Shadow had to answer as he
began his investigation of the Room of Doom!
CHAPTER I
DEATH ENTERS
THE room that Arthur Aldriff termed his "den" was well suited to the
description. It was a large room, furnished with a variety of curios and
trophies that marked its owner as a man of many pursuits.
Looking in from the door, the square room showed a fireplace on the right;
above it, a mantel which bore a very ornamental clock, flanked by a pair of
porcelain vases. On one end of the mantel was a model of a trim sloop; on the
other, an ancient English drinking horn.
Above the mantel a mounted moose head gazed with glittering glass eyes;
just beneath the stuffed head was the rifle that had killed the moose, set in a
horizontal rack. Flanking the stuffed head were two other plaques, mounted with
fish that Aldriff had caught.
At the left of the room was Aldriff's desk. Whenever he looked up, he could
see the moose head; but the creature with the glass eyes did not stare back at
him. Instead, it admired its own reflection in a large and ornamental mirror
that hung behind the desk. Aldriff valued the mirror highly; he considered its
gold filigreed frame to be a fine example of Florentine craftsmanship.
On each side of the mirror were bookcases filled with beautifully bound
volumes that Aldriff never opened. When he indulged in intellectual pursuits, he
preferred chess. The evidence stood in a little nook set in the far wall of the
room.
The nook was a solid-walled cubbyhole, not more than six feet in width and
depth and only a trifle higher. It contained two light chairs that faced each
other; between them, a chess table with inlaid squares of ebony and ivory.
Chessmen of the same materials were standing on the board, set for a game.
All that Aldriff needed was a rival player, and he seldom found one. He was too
skillful for most players of his acquaintance.
There were other objects in the room: framed paintings, larger vases than
those on the mantel, some ornamental lamps, and a silver narghile or Oriental
water pipe. The narghile was a gift from the dealer who had sold Aldriff the
magnificent rugs: Samarkands, Kashgars and Baluchistans, which overlapped one
another all over the floor of the den.
Of course, the room was also furnished with easy chairs, footstools, ash
stands, and such, which made it very comfortable for guests. In a near corner,
at the right of the door, was a special case containing cups and medals that
Aldriff had won in yacht racing, golf tournaments, and pistol competition.
Aldriff kept his golf clubs in that corner, along with a revolver rack,
