Chapter XIV: The Elusive Mr. Shei

Spasmodically The Gray Phantom pressed the receiver closer to his ear. The laughter at the other end of the wire rose to a shrill crescendo, then ended abruptly in a harsh and discordant twang.

"Helen!" shouted The Phantom.

No answer came; nothing but a muffled thud that sounded as if the person at the other end had suddenly dropped the receiver. His face white, The Phantom turned to Miss Dale.

"Are you convinced now?" she murmured, a silken smile hovering about her lips. "And don't you think you had better obey Mr. Shei's wishes and leave the city immediately?"

The Phantom mopped the clammy perspiration from his forehead. A moment ago his face had been distorted from horror; now a look of rage glittered menacingly in his eyes. "Mr. Shei will pay for this," he muttered thickly. "When I have finished with him, he will wish he had never been born."

"And just what do you propose to do?" Miss Dale airily waved her slim, white hand. "As a measure of self-protection, knowing that he could not control you by any other means, Mr. Shei has caused Miss Hardwick to be inoculated with the same malady that killed Miss Darrow, and which will kill seven of the city's wealthiest men unless they comply with his wishes. There is only one thing which can save her, and that is the antidote. It is in the possession of a Malayan scientist, one of Mr. Shei's most devoted followers, and it will be administered only when you have carried out the terms I have explained to you."

The Phantom stood silent while trying to fight down the surge of emotions that threatened to swamp his reason. Suddenly his roving gaze was fixed on the numbered tag above the mouthpiece of the telephone instrument. His lids contracted a little.

"Brilliant idea, my dear Phantom," drawled Miss Dale. "For once you are quite transparent. It is your intention, as soon as you leave my apartment, to call up the telephone exchange and trace the call, thus learning Miss Hardwick's whereabouts. It would be simple, for it was a long-distance connection, and such calls are always recorded. I will save you the trouble, however. Miss Hardwick is at Azurecrest."

"Azurecrest?" echoed The Phantom, momentarily a trifle dazed.

Miss Dale seemed to find his perplexity highly amusing. "When Mr. Shei learned the place was for sale, he bought it anonymously through an agent. It seemed an ideal spot for certain experiments he had in mind. Hoping to find you there, Miss Hardwick went to Azurecrest the day after Miss Darrow's death, and for divers reasons it was thought best to detain her."

The Phantom muttered an exclamation. Slade had lied to him, then, when The Phantom had called up Azurecrest earlier in the day and inquired for Miss Hardwick. Slade, he now suspected, was one of Mr. Shei's agents, and under the circumstances it was not surprising that he had disclaimed all knowledge of Helen. The Phantom might not have accepted his denial so readily if he had had the faintest inkling that Mr. Shei was the present owner of his former retreat.

Suddenly he whirled round on his heels and started abruptly from the room.

"Wait a moment," commanded Miss Dale as he reached the door, and a subtle quality in her tone caused him to stop. "How impulsive you are, my dear Phantom. I suppose you mean to rush madly off to Azurecrest and rescue the fair damsel. Stop and think for a moment. Surely you don't imagine I would have told you Miss Hardwick's whereabouts unless I had been absolutely certain that you were powerless to act."

The Phantom saw the weight of the argument at once. He moved away from the door.

"Glad you are willing to listen to reason," murmured Miss Dale. "You see, you could accomplish nothing at all by going to Azurecrest alone. The place is very carefully guarded by a little army of picked men, not to mention a few savage dogs. Of course, you might ask the police for assistance, supposing that you were on good terms with them, but what would be the result? If Mr. Shei and his followers are put in jail, Miss Hardwick will die, and so will the seven others. In fact, if anything at all happens to Mr. Shei and the members of his organization, the antidote will be irrevocably lost. I believe you grasp the idea, don't you?"

The Phantom's expression showed that he did. There was a baffled look in his eye that testified to his thorough appreciation of Mr. Shei's ingenious precautions.

"In other words," Miss Dale went on, her tones now soft and purring, "you have the best reasons in the world for not wishing the police to annoy Mr. Shei. In a way, Mr. Shei has compelled you to become an ally of his as a result of having Miss Hardwick in his power. It is really an excellent arrangement. And the police, when they understand the situation, will not be inclined to risk the lives of the seven wealthy men by forcing Mr. Shei to take extreme measures. Ah, you are beginning to understand at last that Mr. Shei is practically invulnerable."

"So it would seem," mumbled The Phantom, at last finding his voice.

"And don't you think you had better be reasonable and accept Mr. Shei's conditions? If you decide to be sensible, the antidote will be administered to Miss Hardwick as soon as Mr. Shei's plans are consummated, and she will not be one whit the worse off for her experience. On the other hand, if you choose to be disagreeable----" Miss Dale paused significantly.

The Phantom's tense face bespoke a great mental effort. One by one he reviewed the details of Mr. Shei's brilliant precautions. He could not see a loop-hole anywhere. As far as his imagination could stretch, the only result of obstinacy would be certain death for Helen. Yet the cup of defeat was a bitter draft. Never before had The Gray Phantom surrendered to any man; but now the life of one dear to him was in danger. He made his decision promptly.

"Mr. Shei wins," he announced with a bow. Then he walked out, oblivious of the triumphant smile that curled Miss Dale's lips. His brow was clouded as he descended in the elevator and walked out on the sidewalk. He was aware that the dragnet was thrown out and that he was endangering his liberty by going about so boldly, but arrest and imprisonment seemed a minor matter now. For the first time in his life he was a defeated man. Worse still, he could not rid himself of fears concerning Helen's safety.

Presently he paused as a new and even more disturbing thought flashed through his mind. He had accepted Mr. Shei's terms in the hope that by doing so he would insure Helen's safety. He wondered if he had been too gullible, and he dodged into a doorway while considering the question. He had been under a terrific tension the past few days, and his mind had not been working with its customary agility. Now it occurred to him that he had nothing but Miss Dale's word for it that Helen's life would be spared if he yielded to Mr. Shei's terms. He had relied on her promise, not because of blind faith in her, but rather because Mr. Shei would gain nothing by killing Helen. He was merely using her as a means of suasion whereby to hold The Phantom in leash and prevent interference with his plans, and once she had served his purpose there was no reason why he should do her harm.

But The Phantom was far from satisfied. At Azurecrest, Helen must have heard and seen things that if divulged would constitute a great danger to Mr. Shei and his organization. Her keen perceptions and inquisitive nature were always delving into whatever was strange and mysterious. Would Mr. Shei dare let her live after her usefulness to him was past? Again, as he repeatedly asked himself the question, a cold perspiration broke out on The Phantom's brow.

Once more he made a quick decision, completely reversing the one he had made in Miss Dale's presence. He glanced quickly at his watch. If he remembered correctly, there would be a train for Azurecrest inside twenty minutes. Single-handed, relying only on his quick wits and agile strength, he would beard the lion in his den.

But first he was anxious to learn whether Culligore had made any progress toward clearing up the other phases of the mystery, particularly in regard to Mr. Fairspeckle. He entered a convenient telephone booth and called up the police department. Luck was with him, for after a brief delay he heard Culligore's voice over the wire.

"Oh, Fairspeckle! Why, he's vamoosed. Slipped away right from under the eyes of a doctor and a nurse. Can you beat it?"

The Phantom's veins tingled as he hung up. Fairspeckle's disappearance was final proof that he had correctly guessed the identity of Mr. Shei.