[The Shadow 67] • The Unseen Killer

THE UNSEEN KILLER was originally published in the December 1, 1934 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Just what makes this story so special? Ask yourself this: "If The Shadow took on the Invisible Man, who would win?" Well, if Walter Gibson was writing it, The Shadow would most surely win. And Gibson did write it. And this is the story! 

It all starts in the strange laboratory of Professor Melrose Lessep. Lessep, a tall, wild-eyed inventor with a huge shock of unkept white hair, certainly appears deserving of the title "eccentric." Business men have come to Professor Lessep to invest in his latest invention. He has created a machine which devisualizes solids. That's right, it turns them invisible. 

Findlay Warlock, president of the Centralized Power Corporation, is desperate. He has run the corporation nearly into bankrupcy with his poor business investments. Not that it's his fault. He was a victim of fraud. But that's neither here nor there. He needs money, and Professor Lessep's new invention promises to be a badly needed windfall. 

Warlock stands in Professor Lessep's laboratory with the newly appointed executive secretary Marray Darring. They watch as Professor Lessep's assistant steps into a glass cabinet. The glass frosts up, imparing the view of the assistant. Then the doors open; the assistant has vanished from sight! The professor has truely found the secret of devisualization. The unseen assistant runs from the glass cabinet, unbolts the laboratory door, and makes his escape into the night, completely invisible. 

And then the murders start. Murders committed by the Unseen Killer. First, there's Professor Lessep, himself. The crime is preceeded by a warning note from the Unseen Killer which the professor disregards. Shortly thereafter, the professor is killed in a mysterious manner which only an invisible man could accomplish. Along with the professor goes the secret of invisibility. His machinery won't work, and there are no plans in writing. They were all in the professor's head. 

But this isn't the only murder. There are more. Many more. And each is accomplished under circumstances that point to a madman who can't be seen. The forces of law and order, personified by Commissioner Wainwright Barth and Detective Joe Cardona, are stumped. There seems no way to stop the Unseen Killer, even though he boasts of his crimes in advance. Only one man can stop him. Only one man can capture the Unseen Killer and stop his reign of terror. And that man is... The Shadow! 

It's a great story from The Shadow's early years. This one features The Shadow's oft-used disguise of Lamont Cranston. Agents of The Shadow also appearing in the story are newspaper reporter Clyde Burke, trusted agent Harry Vincent, underworld link Cliff Marsland, and crafty tracker Hawkeye. Also seen in minor roles are two early appearances by lesser agents: pushcart vendor Pietro and the big African named Jericho. 

Since this was early in the series of Shadow novels, Hawkeye wasn't a full agent of The Shadow yet. In this story, he's still working for Slade Farrow, and only takes orders from The Shadow indirectly. And Moe Shrevnitz, the erstwhile cab driver, is only a part-time "emergency" aide. 

The next three paragraphs contain a "spoiler" so read on at your own risk! 

SPOILER 

This is the story that introduces a new agent for The Shadow, one who appeared in the magazine stories with great regularity right up until the end of the series in 1949. Miles Crofton, who is The Shadow's pilot, appears here for the first time. Crofton, a war hero, soldier of fortune and stunt flier, appears here as Professor Lessep's assistant. Yes, it's Crofton who is suspected of being the Unseen Killer. 

One of the drawbacks of reading these stories out of chronological order is that we occasionally know things that we aren't intended to know. It's like knowing the future. We know, having read later Shadow stories, that Crofton goes on to become a valuable aide of The Shadow. So we know that he can't be the Unseen Killer. And that spoils the story. 

Walter Gibson has carefully crafted the story to make it appear that Crofton is actually the guilty party. Only at the story's end are supposed to discover that Crofton is innocent and has been framed. Had we read these stories in chronological order, we would have fallen for the trick. But since we already know that Crofton is one of the "good guys," we see through the trick from the very beginning. It lessens the impact of the story and dampens the enjoyment of the surprise ending. 

SPOILER ENDING 

A couple of notes of interest regarding this story. In the early Shadow stories, Commissioner Weston and later Commissioner Barth both considered The Shadow to be a myth rather than a real crimefighter. That's the case in this story. It's interesting to note how Barth's false belief is carefully preserved, in that whenever The Shadow appears, Barth doesn't see him. Even when both are in the same room... 

It's also interesting to note that never once in the entire story does Walter Gibson use the term "invisible man." Makes you wonder why. The hit Universal movie starring Claude Raines had just been released the previous year and was foremost in the public's mind. Perhaps the omission was intentional, for legal reasons. The original 1897 story was still under copyright. H.G. Wells, the author, was still living. Perhaps that had something to do with the avoidance of the "invisible man" term. Can anyone shed any additional light on the situation? 

A final note of interest is that The Shadow's hidden sanctum is always bathed in the glow of a bluish light. It's been that way in every Shadow story I've ever read, regardless of whether it came before or after this particular one. But in one scene in this story, The Shadow removes the blue incandescent and screws in a normal white frosted bulb. And for that one moment, The Shadow's mysterious sanctum is revealed in a white glow. Never before, and perhaps never again, would that happen. A most singular event!