by Van Powell
Chapter 40 THE MYSTERY WIZARD'S SOLUTION
While the beast shackled in the chair kept up its hoarse growls andstruggles, Grover outlined, for the benefit--it seemed--of akangaroo--or the one in the chair--his deductions.
"Was that clever? You know it was. To plan to steal a sacred gem underthe pretext of replacing a fake one with the true Eye."
Roger had not guessed that, nor, by the exclamations, had the rest ofthe group--or most of them.
"The mystery of the white rats, supposed to be deadly menaces because wethought they were inoculated with germs of a spinal malady, got ourattention turned to every possible idea but the real one.
"To add to our consternation, give a ghostly touch with the animal'spooks' on a film, this clever thief made a record of what he recalledabout the Tibetan Buddha's 'Voice of Doom.' Like most criminals, heovershot his mark, adding the grind of rocks, when in truth there was nosuch grind. The sound was caused by wind, always howling across theHimalayas, coming through a wind-tunnel cut in rock from the base of acliff to the lamasery temple on its crest.
"He made a record, with moans, cries and groans, and added the effect ofthe rock closing, from his imagination of what would be right."
That record he had managed to slip onto their own recorder-reproducermachine, with a hookup which Roger knew all about, Grover went on. Theweird manifestation had startled them, while watching for the man, onenight. With a Balsa-wood speaker hidden flat on a dusty shelf, he hadcaused a spooky voice to draw them up where the prepared film, in a cancarefully re-sealed, was handy to be taken and, later, developed, tocomplicate mysteries further with the spooky animals, he added.
"That was all for the reason that he had to bring in Tibet, logically,"went on Grover, "he had to prepare us for the fact that he was in dangerfrom the Tibetan vengeance. Of course, by this time, the staff knows, aswe do, who I refer to."
Of course, Roger decided. The others nodded. Who, but the guilty man heaccused, could be meant? He had said the man was menaced.
"Doctor Ryder was the only one who claimed he was threatened," saidMillman, "and I suspected Roger of playing jokes!"
"Well, I suspected you when you came to my room," retorted the youthfullistener.
"And I did not know whom to suspect," Grover took up his story. "Cluespointed this way and that. Appearances are easily falsified and I triedto dig past them to truth--only, I lacked the right hint, and neverdreamed that a gem was to be stolen under the pretext of restoring it!That was easily planned, for once the gem had been seen, perhapsphotographed with a watch-camera or some small photographic device, aman like Clark, working with him for a share of the profit from variousgem sales, could reproduce in imitation the green jewel."
Toby, he inferred--and the youth eagerly attested the truth of theinference--had been paid well, being a former helper at the Clark storeon Fifth Avenue, but out of work--had been paid to sell the supposedly"real" Eye, its facsimile, for an absurd amount, as he had accepted amovie camera.
"I fell into the lure," Grover hurried along, "because, for a time, theTibetan Voice of Doom manifestation, and the robbery of our safe,confused me. It was easy to do that last by de-fusing our cellarswitch-boxes, a point I had never thought of. Scientists, likecriminals--or average people--trip up often enough on some minor pointin a plan."
Because the radio would allow him to be in touch, and for the sake ofthe travel, adventure and scientific aid Roger would get and give, hisolder cousin confessed that he had been glad to see Roger help thesupposed replacement of a sacred relic.
"Clark was brought in cleverly by use of a record. It was the same onethat had been used for the Voice here, and when the needle was droppedonto the unused part, it made a thump that was one of the sounds of aseries of clues which puzzled Roger and me, because the _appearance_ wasthat it was all one recording.
"The trip to Tibet went off as scheduled. Roger, really a sort of 'bait'because of his youth, was, as hoped, taken up to the lamasery as a sortof curiosity--a young American well up in scientific methods andoperations. Innocently he played the thief's plans, and still the veryapparatus that he insisted on taking there made the lamas suspicious,especially one of their wiser men who had been out of their country, whounderstood English, and who had read Roger's memoranda of radio talks toand from lamasery and camp.
"With Tibetan vindictiveness, they let him hear the Voice of Doom,probably operated by a concealed priest in the hollow image, and thenconsigned him, and Potts, to the tunnel. By sheer wit and scientificknowledge Roger found that he was in a sort of whistling tube, operatedwhen the rock door was opened, by wind. He worked out, with Tip's wisehelp, the secret, and they escaped.
"Clark, when Roger got to camp, took the supposed Eye and with Rogerwatching and unsuspicious, actually replaced the true Eye with the falseone he and Ryder had brought along. He had another, and to make Rogerthink he was genuinely through with the stone, so as to be clear if anyTibetan revenge developed, he threw away one more imitation. Potts,worried about the levers having been wedged which he considered an errorof judgment, went back to repair it."
So interested were the men in following the developing solution thatthey had forgotten how bizarre was this relation of a mystery and itsunveiling--to a beast.
The animal seemed fascinated, or cowed, or subdued in some way. Perhaps,thought Roger, the plight of the hidden keeper made it tame.
Grover drew his theories into shape.
"Naturally, with the real gem, Clark and Ryder made all speed to radiothe prepared airplane. It met them. In Bombay, as he had no desire to befurther involved, Potts discarded the false gem he had picked up."
Then, proceeding on pure deduction, Grover felt that the Tibetans haddiscovered their real loss, had discerned that Roger and Tip had solvedthe intricate tunnel secret and had escaped. To write, with Roger'sdiscarded note book as a guide, in a semblance of his writing, was easy.The letter had come by fast mail steamers and had further confused him.
"Then the thief, with the gem in his fellow-worker's possession,encountered difficulties," went on Grover; "the man who had beenintending to buy the jewel probably became frightened, afraid of thedanger that the stone might bring around him. So many priceless jewelscarry curses, or bring disaster, that he must have gotten 'cold feet'and a new buyer had to be sought. The gem, also, had to be secured, incase the Tibetans actually put into action their vengeful methods.
"Toby was working here. Ryder thought it a clever plan to have thisformer aide help him, and so he concealed the gem and had it innocentlydelivered here, but Toby, not as dumb as he was considered, suspectedthe truth, discovered the hidden gem, and on his own hook offered tosell it to a buyer he had known at Clark's store.
"That made it necessary for Ryder to recover the gem quickly from theconcealment no longer unsuspected here. He tried to get people away fromupstairs, by detonating with his foot a torpedo under our office desk;but Astrovox, our scientific star-student, had been about to go home,frightened by some foolish combination of star-positions and amanifestation planned to scare him away. He walked in before Ryder couldhide, recognized him--and the desperate man struck him.
"Soon thereafter he realized that in a list of some fifteen sounds madeby Roger there lay the actual clue that incriminated him and no oneelse!"
"What was it?" asked Ellison anxiously or eagerly, Roger told himself.
"What Roger thought was claws-on-glass. His very first sound-clue. Withthat on a list, and in the clever head of the stock-room clerk, Ryderhad two things to do quickly. He must get the gem, and he must eitherfind a way to throw suspicion elsewhere or get Roger out of the way."
Roger realized why many attempts had been made, like the one in thedark-room.
"I warned Roger. Ryder, when Toby--who knew where the gemwas--telephoned him that he had left explosives out in the open--Rydertried to use that as a way to lure Roger here to open up, because we hadso arranged things that act
ually no one could even enter and not becaught--he was deadly afraid of being electrocuted too soon.
"But Roger is still safe, the gem is available, and so--as you wellknow, there is no more mystery, except this:
"How do you think you are going to get the Eye of Om--now?"
Roger stared at his cousin. Saying that. To a beast!