"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 336 - Blackmail Bay" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

BLACKMAIL BAY
by Walter B. Gibson

As originally published in "The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine,"
1980.


I

UNDER the gleam of a bluish light, the chart depicting Cobosco Bay stood
out in vivid detail. Jutting in from the lower left corner was a promontory
that marked the fishing village of Gosport, a stopping place for the
old-fashioned double-decked steamers that still plied the bay, as indicated by
a dotted line continuing northward. That line veered to the westward to avoid
the Twins, two tiny isles that stood side by side, with a narrow channel in
between; then the dotted line took a curve toward the northeast as it
approached Spruce Island, the biggest thing on the map, which was portrayed in
full topographic detail.
Stretching from the southwest to the northeast, Spruce Island began with
Hiram's Head, a dome-shaped bluff which, judging from the numerous contour
lines, probably loomed to considerable proportions. It bore a distinct
resemblance to a monstrous head, due to a deep indentation to the right, which
was marked as Hiram's Cove. Continuing almost due east, the shoreline showed a
steamboat landing, indicated by the dotted line and half a dozen tiny blocks
that represented buildings. From there, the shore wangled to the northeast, to
terminate in a narrow strip of land called Beacon Neck, which led to an oddly
formed mark that represented Beacon Light, an old lighthouse at the very tip
of
the island.
The dotted steamship route ended at the central landing, making it the
key
factor of the map. As proof of that, a long, thin hand moved into the bluish
glow and placed a pointed forefinger on that very spot. It was a left hand, as
evidenced by a gem that sparkled from the third finger with its scintillating
rays running the gamut from deep crimson to brilliant purple, vivified by
flashes of flame that burst into being as though attracted by the
all-pervading
blue light. This was The Shadow's girasol, one of the unmatched fire-opals
that
symbolized his ability to conquer crime by dulling the brains of its would-be
perpetrators.
Right now, crime was afoot on Spruce Island. The Shadow's fingers were
already stalking it, as they moved westward from the landing along the
island's
only well-marked road that moved inland as it approached Hiram's Cove. There,
the Shadow paused to note a short turn-in that led up to a house on the cove;
then he continued along the main road, which skirted the cove itself, until it
ran directly into Hiram's Head where the bristling contours forced the road to
jog sharply to the right and wend northward until the west shore of the island
moved in gradually to meet it on a contour marked by a building on a spot