[The Shadow 30] • The Death Giver

THE DEATH GIVER was originally published in the May 15, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Life meant nothing to him - he gave mysterious Death to random strangers for the joy of giving it. Ruthless, hardened evil mind that he was, no one seemed able to stop his rule of death - until The Shadow came! This is another fantastic adventure of The Shadow that I know you'll enjoy. It doesn't get better than this. It's got action; it's got elements of the fantastic; it's got mystery... and it'll keep you glued to your chair, wanting more. It's a most satisfying romp with The Shadow, all nicely tied up at the end for your reading pleasure. Perhaps the most enjoyable parts of this story is the villain. He's almost over-the-top, bad. That's how evil he is! Thade is The Death Giver. And hoo-boy is he crazy! He's out to kill, kill, kill! Random strangers are put to mysterious death at his whim. And he has a variety of methods: electrocutions, poisons, gasses, explosions, and the list goes on. Only The Shadow can track him down. Only The Shadow can stop him! What's behind it all? Thade is a mad scientist in the truest sense of the word. He's a scientist named Lucius Olney, who for years worked with poisons, lethal gasses, and methods of delivering them. His whole life was consumed with his work. Definitely a little off his rocker, already. But the thing that really sent him over the edge was when he approached the government with his work and was rejected. The ridicule sent him absolutely looney, and he swore to use his inventions to kill. Oh, yeah, he also used his inventions to make some money, too. He'd kill a bunch of people around his upcoming victim, and then try to coerce a million dollars from them, threatening them with death as well. But if his victim balked, he didn't really care. He wasn't in it for the money; he'd much rather kill for killing's sake! Our story opens as two successive, unexplainable murders have taken place on the Suburban Railway. Both have taken place at the same spot; both at the same hour of the day. Commissioner Weston sends Detective Joe Cardona out to investigate. But there's not a lot of clues to find; just two dead guys in car number three. And tomorrow? Sure enough, another one turns up. And poor Joe is stymied! Of course, we know what's going on. We know that this is all just a build-up by The Death Giver, in order to convince millionaire Henry Bellew that he'll be next if he doesn't cough up a million dollars. Naturally, Bellew refuses. He didn't get to be a millionaire by being a softie! He's about to phone the police when he is killed in a gruesome electrocution by one of The Death Giver's henchmen. And then henchman's killed, too. Thus ends the trail back to Thade, The Death Giver. That's the way it is with all of The Death Giver's crimes. There's never a trail that leads back to the master killer. He strikes randomly, so there's no way to know where he'll strike next. It's a tough case that the police can't touch. So it's up to The Shadow to track him down. And so he does, in this excellent early Shadow mystery. During this period in the development of the characters in the Shadow novels, Joe Cardona is still a detective, working under Inspector Timothy Klein. Commissioner Weston believes The Shadow to be a myth. And Lamont Cranston shows up only briefly. Most of the time, he appears only as The Shadow in his costume of black. The villain of the piece is quite flamboyant. He's a wizened old coot clad in a green robe. Yellow, scrawny hands extend from baggy sleeves. Upon the breast of the robe appears a circle of black, with the design of skull and crossbones marked in white. His face is not yellow; it's green, glowing with a luminous color courtesy of some chemical compound. From his mouth protrude gleaming, fanglike teeth. He works from a den high atop a skyscraper in a lair of green. Shaggy green carpet on the floor. Deep green curtains on the walls. Green lights illuminate the room. And on the door, guarded by two giant Nubians, the glowing white skull and crossbones. He controls his minions through fear. He sits on a dias before his subjugated henchmen as the floor in front of him slides open. Beneath the green carpet is a thick sheet of plate glass. Under it, entombed in a coffin like a mummy in a museum, is the form of a living man! A helpless, miserable being whose shroud-wrapped form is wasted with long suffering. A face with hollow, bony cheeks; its colorless eyes staring sightlessly upward; a pain-racked frame that had shrunk to the proportions of a skeleton. This was a traitor to Thade, The Death Giver. His fate is to be kept alive for months in torture, dying slowing as Thade carefully gauges the gas which enters his glass-covered coffin. Yes, this is one sick dude! Let me mention a few other noteworthy aspects of this novel. It features a pretty neat code. Each of Thade's victims receives messages in code. It's a pretty strange code, but when once explained is quite easy to understand. I thought it was pretty cool. In this story, The Shadow uses a strange hypnotic gas to rescue one of Thade's intended victims. Yes, The Shadow actually drugs one of the innocent victims with something that smells of exotic perfume. It brings to mind the possibility that these were the fumes of the purplish liquid that The Shadow carried with him. It had appeared twice, previous to this story, but never had it been used in this manner. Perhaps it's the same strange fluid; perhaps it's related in some way. It's not often that you see The Shadow drug someone, and I felt it was worthwhile noting. Also worth noting is Burbank's name. Rarely is any clue given as to his name. Is Burbank his first name or last? Judging from this story, it's his last name. And his first? It doesn't say. But the story does give the initial "L" as a clue. "L. Burbank." Hmmm... Larry? Leonard? Linus? Your guess is as good as mine. But since Harry Vincent has a business card "H. Vincent" and Burbank has a business card "L. Burbank" I think we can safely assume they weren't using aliases, and the initial "L" is a valid one. Again in this story, The Shadow appears in public wearing his girasol ring. That's something that he rarely does, in later years, but it occurs here. He appears in daylight as a tall, hawk-nosed individual; we aren't told if it's his Cranston disguise or some other. But on his long left hand glows the strange, color-changing gem. There were fewer agents back in these early stories. Recurring characters in this novel are Commissioner Ralph Weston, Inspector Timothy Klein, Detective Sergeant Mayhew and Detective Joe Cardona, all appearing on behalf of the law. Rutledge Mann, Burbank, Clyde Burke and Harry Vincent are The Shadow's agents who take part in the story. The Shadow's expert use of disguise is showcased here. He appears, as he often does, as Lamont Cranston, although only briefly. He also becomes the identical duplicate of Irwin Langhorne, a wealthy victim-to-be of Thade. Later, he assumes the identity of Harlan Treffin, one of Thade's minions. At the story's climax, he appears in the presence of Thade, the Death Giver, disguised as his chief lieutenant, and even the wily Thade can't detect the deception. Then, there is one scene, early on in the story, where an unnamed man appears. From his description, he must be Lamont Cranston. But Cardona looks him in the eye, and shows no sign of recognition. Had Cardona not yet met Cranston? Or is this some other disguise of The Shadow? The story doesn't explain... I found an interesting reference in the story, when referring to Detective Cardona: "Once the commissioner had teamed the detective with a professor who had claimed great ability in the theories of crime. The professor had turned out to be a criminal himself!" This is apparently a reference to "The Tower of Death" from the previous year. But it also foreshadows the 1942 story "Formula for Crime," which pits The Shadow against a crime expert who claims to have applied advance mathematics to the problem of crime prevention... but in the end turns out to be the criminal mastermind. Interesting how Walter Gibson later expanded upon the premise and wrote an entire story around it. There is also a rather cryptic reference in this story to some strange language. When Thade's chief henchman telephones him, their low conversation involves "a number of oddly pronounced words." In another scene, when Thade commands his Nubian guards, we're told that "The Death Giver uttered words in a strange language." It's mentioned a third time, at the climax of the story, when The Shadow confronts Thade in his lair, and the madman "uttered chanting words in a strange language." We are never told any more; just those tantalizing bits. I'm going to assume that The Shadow, who is a master of many languages, understood those odd words. The story, itself, doesn't tell us. This story is just chock full of Shadowy goodness. We get to visit the apparently abandoned B. Jonas office. The Shadow uses his disappearing ink. There's a couple visits to The Shadow's sanctum hidden away... who knows where. The girasol ring... the black cloak... the burning eyes... and one of the most diabolical methods of delivering death in massive doses to the residents of Manhattan that a sinister brain could devise. This is one of the stories chosen to be reprinted in paperback in the late 1960's by Pyramid Books. And it was a good choice. It's a blue-ribbon selection... a story that typifies what is best in The Shadow pulp tales. Read this story. Now.