The Shadow 335 Riddle of the Rangoon Ruby

THE RIDDLE OF THE RANGOON RUBY was Walter Gibson's next-to-the-last Shadow story. It was a short story written in 1976 and published in "The Shadow Scrapbook" in 1979. Sad to say, however, it's not a very good Shadow story. Part of the reason that this story is sub-par was because it was not intended to be your normal pulp mystery. It was intended to be one of those "you solve it before the solution is revealed" type of stories. Apparently it had been suggested to Gibson by some fans that they wanted a story that focused on sheer deduction. They wanted a case in which the reader could solve it himself, if only he were astute enough. So Gibson wrote this story to both answer that demand and also act as a test, or "pilot" if you will, for a proposed syndicated series of Shadow mysteries. The syndicated series never happened, and this story is a pretty good indicator of why. This just isn't the type of Shadow stories that readers were used to. It's not just that it is short, although it definitely is short. It's around 7,500 words. It just doesn't have the same feel as those pulp stories of the 1930's and 1940's. There's no adventure. No excitement. No blazing .45 automatics. And when The Shadow appears in his all-too-few scenes, they really serve little purpose. They just seem to be there so that readers can identify the story as being a Shadow mystery. The plot is pretty standard, which isn't necessarily bad. There's a ruby with a curse on it. The Rangoon Ruby. And there's a synthetic double that's been created. Carter Mycroft, the man who has purchased both of them, is murdered in a locked room on his large estate. Who could have done it? There are a dozen possible suspects, all of whom had motive and opportunity to commit the crime. It's up to The Shadow to crack the case. The story opens auspiciously enough. We begin in The Shadow's darkened sanctum. Over the wire, Burbank is delivering reports to The Shadow. Yes, it's a good start, but it only lasts six short paragraphs. Then we switch to the Lamont Cranston character. And except for one other scene with The Shadow, it's all about Lamont Cranston. I suppose that's logical, since this story is intended to be a murder mystery with clues to help you solve the mystery along with the characters. So it's only fitting that the Lamont Cranston guise should play the larger role. But it's not what I was looking for in a Shadow story. I wanted more of The Shadow! That one other scene, mentioned above, seems to be added on just to give The Shadow some part in the story. It seems to serve no other purpose. Nothing of consequence happens in The Shadow's scene. He climbs the outside walls of Carter Mycroft's house, enters the window of the second-story study, sees the dead body lying there, and then leaves through the window again. That's it. He does nothing important. He finds no clues that aren't mentioned elsewhere. He's just there because... well... because it's a Shadow story and he was obligated to make an appearance. The rest of the story centers on Lamont Cranston, detective, with his lovely friend and companion Margo Lane. There are some old familiar characters brought back. Burbank gets a couple lines in the opening sanctum scene. Shrevvy (that's Moe Shrevnitz to the uninitiated) also appears doing taxi duty at the beginning. Later driving duties are taken over by long-time agent Harry Vincent. No other agents are mentioned, but that's OK. You wouldn't want such a short story cluttered with more of them. And Police Commissioner Ralph Weston makes an appearance, too. The solution of the mystery -- who killed Carter Mycroft -- is logical. Yes, all the clues were there. But it seemed a little too complicated to me. Maybe it's because I was reading this late at night and my mind wasn't as clear as it should be. Or maybe Gibson was trying to get a little too convoluted for a short story. Perhaps if I went back and studied it carefully, it would make better sense. For the most part, this story could be placed in the 1930's or 40's. It has a timeless feel which allows it to take place in any era that the reader wishes to imagine. And that's the way a good Shadow tale should be. The only jarring note was mention of a tape recorder. Up until then, my mind envisioned a mid-1930's setting. Then I was abruptly reminded by the appearance of the recorder that this was more modern times. But the recorder was somewhat crucial to the plot. It could have been re-written, I suppose, to replace the tape recorder with an earlier device like a dictaphone or disk recording. But the story was written for a 1970's reading audience, so perhaps it was intentional. There are a few familiar touches missing in this story. Things which wouldn't have added greatly to the size, had they been included. For example, when The Shadow leaves his sanctum, there's no laugh. He just leaves. Anyone who's read the pulp magazine stories knows that whenever The Shadow departs from his sanctum, there's always a final, lingering whispered laugh. And when the final echoes of that laugh disappear, The Shadow is no longer in the sanctum. That signature farewell is strangely missing. Adding in that laugh, wouldn't have saved this disappointing story, but it would have helped. Another place that the famous laugh is missing is at the story's conclusion. The pulp stories always ended with a few paragraphs describing The Shadow's triumph, and his trailing laughter. This one abruptly ends with dialogue describing the solution to the mystery. How hard would it have been for Gibson to add a single sentence or two? Something like "As the car disappeared around the bend, faint shuddery laughter floated back on the night air. The Shadow had triumphed once again." That's all it would have taken, and it would have given this story a much needed final boost. And in the scene where The Shadow sneaked into Carter Mycroft's second-floor study, would it have hurt to mention those rubber suction cups? It wouldn't have been asking too much for a vague reference that long-time fans would recognize. Like "There was a slight squidging sound as The Shadow scaled the sheer wall and entered the study window." It wouldn't have taken much to improve this short story. But for some reason Walter Gibson left out many of these familiar touches. Luckily, Gibson's Shadow didn't have to go out on this somewhat-sour note. This wasn't the last of The Shadow stories. There was one more official Shadow adventure that he wrote, 1979's "Blackmail Bay," and it was much better. I can't really recommend this as a Shadow mystery. It is short, so if you choose to read it, you won't be wasting a lot of your time. But this is definitely not even close to Gibson's best.