The Shadow 074 Bells of Doom

BELLS OF DOOM was originally published in the March 15, 1935 issue of The Shadow Magazine. The bells were rung when someone in the community had died. But then murder began to strike. And the bells continued to ring, even though no one was in the old tower. The Shadow was determined not only to find the killer, but to discover who... or what... was ringing the bells of doom. We meet four men aboard the steamship Laurentic, bound from Liverpool, England, to New York. One of the four men is Lamont Cranston. And it doesn't take us long to realize that this is not the "real" Lamont Cranston, but The Shadow in his preferred disguise. Cranston sits in the smoking room playing cards with three other men. The first of those men is Augustus Messler, a portly gentleman, a wealthy New Yorker who is completing a voyage around the world. In the ship's safe, he carries a fabulous collection of jewels acquired in India from the Rajah Salgore. Next is Charles Rosling, a man with the hatchet face, who declares himself to be a frequent transatlantic traveler. And third is Milton Claverly, a suave young chap, coming from Australia. And just what is The Shadow doing on board the Laurentic? It's those jewels of Messler's. As Messler had traveled from India across Europe, there had been radioed reports of several attempts to gain the fortune in jewels. Reports received by The Shadow. They had been sufficient to bring The Shadow from New York to Liverpool, in time to board the steamship Laurentic. The Shadow will attempt to thwart future crime involving the treasure in jewels. It's not long before we realize that this story will follow young Milton Claverly as he returns to America and to his small-town home of Torberg. His purpose in returning is to collect his legacy; his father only recently died. And, we might add, died under mysterious circumstances. When old David Claverly died, the bells of doom had begun to ring. The bells in the tower that old Claverly himself had built and donated to the city of Torberg. It was David Claverly who had named them the bells of doom, although in a most gristly manner. Old David Claverly had died somewhat suddenly, and just minutes later the bells began to toll. But then, a most horrifying thing happened. Old David Claverly, sat up in bed. That's right, a dead man sat up. Sat up, and shrieked, "The bells! Bells of doom! They are ringing for me! But when they ring again, they will tell new doom! Doom for those who -" At that, he fell back, dead. This time, for real. It's to this dark and foreboding location that young Milton Claverly intends to return. It's clear from the beginning of the story that Milton Claverly is intended to be our proxy hero. It is he that we will follow throughout the story. It is he that we are intended to root for. Ah, but there's a twist. Author Walter Gibson presents us with a young man who may not be as innocent as he appears. Perhaps our proxy hero is in actuality a proxy villain! While still on the ship making its way from England to America, young Milton meets surreptitiously with Charles Rosling. Rosling suggests the two join forces to steal Augustus Messler's jewelry collection. Because of the ship's security, they decide to wait until the jewels have been taken ashore at New York. And it's in Messler's New York home that an attempt is made upon the jewels. It's an unsuccessful attempt, but still leaves the reader wondering if Milton Claverly was involved in the failed attempt. Suspicion builds when Milton Claverly returns to Torberg and the family mansion. He learns that three men cheated his father of most of his wealth shortly before he died. And soon those men begin to die. Milton Claverly has no alibi. And each sudden death is accompanied by the sound of the bells from the old tower. The bells of doom! Yes, Walter Gibson goes out of his way to paint a picture of a young man tortured by inner demons. This young man could easily have committed the murders in Torberg. He glowers. He has outbursts of anger. When he vows vengeance, men die shortly thereafter. Could our proxy hero be not so heroic after all? The faithful reader can only hope that all will be safely explained in the end. With The Shadow on hand, we're sure that right will triumph and the sinister forces will be defeated. The Shadow travels to Torberg and investigates the strange goings-on in the small town. He sends for his long-trusted agent Harry Vincent. With the assistance of only one aide, The Shadow sets about to discover the secrets of the Torberg inhabitants and solve the mystery of the bells of doom. Usually, The Shadow calls upon a core group of agents. But Harry Vincent carries nearly all of the action, here. Underworld agent Cliff Marsland is used early in the story, to help thwart the jewel thieves at the New York home of Augustus Messler. But after the first four chapters, when the action moves to Torberg, he's left behind in New York, supposedly to continue tracking down Charles Rosling, the other suspect in the attempted robbery. While the story spends two chapters in New York, we also meet our old friends Detective Joe Cardona and Detective Sergeant Markham. Cardona is currently serving in the capacity of acting inspector. All making the slow transition to his eventual title as Inspector Cardona. Cardona and Markham are present at the Messler house, acting as security for the jewel collection. But once the robbery is prevented, the story moves on to Torberg and we see no more of these two. As for New York Police Commissioner Ralph Weston, he doesn't appear. His name is mentioned along with that of previous commissioner Wainwright Barth. Weston is back at his old job, now. This was in reference to the year he spent in South America helping clean up the small country of Garauca. But other than the one reference, neither the commissioner or the ex-commissioner show up. The only other character representing the law is Sheriff Wheaton Locke of Torberg. He appears after the first murder in the small town, and has a fairly good-sized role to play. Walter Gibson portrays him as a competent lawman, but doesn't flesh out the character more than needed for the purposes of a pulp novel. After four chapters of preliminaries -- two aboard the Laurentic and two set in New York -- the story settles down to the strange occurrences in the small town of Torberg. And that's where this story really shines. The dark atmosphere is compelling. The moonlit skies. Murder at midnight. The tolling of the phantom bells. And The Shadow skulking invisibly through the black night. And what a backstory there is! Old David Claverly, wealthy but afraid to die. Afraid he'll be buried alive. The fear grew as he aged, until he finally had a special crypt built, a recent addition to his old mansion. And when he died, under mysterious circumstance, David Claverly was buried in the special stone crypt for a week. Then, after that time, having confirmed his death was authentic, the body was removed to the cemetery. The crypt itself was then locked and the keys destroyed, all as per the directions in his will. And there's a potential romantic angle, here, too. But it goes nowhere. David Claverly took in young, attractive Phyllis Lingle as his ward. Her father had been an old friend of David Claverly. When young Milton returns to Torberg, she's still living in the old house with the crazy servant Lester. I expected Walter Gibson to insert a little chemistry between the two, but no. There are no sparks. Milton treats Phyllis rather remotely, and she does the same. As for The Shadow, himself, this is a typical version of the mid-thirties Shadow. Not yet toned down, this Shadow shoots straight and often. The hoodlums drop with a bullet through their hearts. In later years, The Shadow would prefer to battle it out with his fists, using his .45 automatics to sledge down his opponents. But this Shadow prefers a gun battle. And he's mighty accurate, too. We get to see The Shadow demonstrate many of his amazing abilities in this pulp mystery. He climbs the outside of a hundred-foot bell tower without the need for assistance from his rubber suction cups. They are mentioned as an aid he uses when ascending smooth surfaces, but are not needed on the rougher stones of the tower. And we get to see The Shadow pick locks that would have been impossible for anyone else. Even though the keys to the stone crypt were all destroyed, The Shadow is able to pick them and enter the strange, cold abode of the dead. Some of the best Shadow pulp novels come from the mid-1930's, and this is one of them. With a nod to Edgar Allen Poe's "Premature Burial" this story kept me on the edge of my seat, reading far into the night when I should have been sleeping. What is the secret of the crypt? Why are the dead mysteriously increasing? Will The Shadow be able to unravel this strange mystery? And can he stop the ringing of the Bells of Doom? Oh, yeah! It's a top-notch Shadow thriller. You can't go wrong with this one.