board on the lobby wall. The directory for the building. He looked up Gottlieb, Knox Toy & Novelty Co. It was 1019. He looked for the name of the mining magnate, and found it. Tetlow Adams, 910 to 919. That would bring his suite almost directly under the office of the dead toy salesman.
Benson went up to the tenth floor to the office where murder had been committed.
Gottlieb lay beside the chair from which he had slumped, next to his desk. His head was a gory ruin. But it seemed otherwise untouched. His clothes were not in the disarray that should have resulted from a search. And as far as could be seen, not one thing in the office had been touched.
Two detectives and the coroner were in the office. One of the detectives caught that swift, all-embracing glance of The Avenger and read it.
“Not one thing was touched or taken, as far as we can tell,” he said to Benson. Meanwhile he stared in awe at this legendary person. “There don’t seem to have been a motive for murder at all. Unless some enemy of the guy killed him because he was sore at him. Anyhow, all we know is that somebody sneaked in here, killed Gottlieb, turned the lights out, and sneaked away again.”
“You mean he just came in, killed, turned off the lights, and left?” said the giant Smitty. “Nothing else?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
The Avenger was saying nothing. But the pale, cold eyes were like shiny, stainless steel chips.
“I think that will be all that this murder can tell us,” he said to Mac and Smitty. And he started away.
Outside the building, the Scot couldn’t contain himself any longer. “And the murrrder of the toy man does tell ye something, Muster Benson?” he burred.
The Avenger nodded. “The slanting line of light,” he quoted the decoded cryptogram.
“I don’t—” began Mac uncertainly.
“The line of light referred to in the message in Aldershot’s pocket must mean a slanting line of lighted windows in a certain building—the Rocker Building—at a certain time. That was to be the signal to someone that ‘all is ready.’ I’ve thought that was the way of it, for some time. This proves it.
“That someone is the man we’re after; the instigator of this gigantic criminal plot. But like so many other criminal minds, he has directed his plans—his murders—from behind the scenes; unknown even to those doing his bidding. He is probably in a window of one of these neighboring buildings or many blocks away reading the message, ‘all is ready,’ with binoculars.”
“I get it,” Smitty said, understanding The Avenger’s implication. “Protection against blackmail. The head of this steal doesn’t want his own men to know who he is for fear they’ll put the squeeze on him later.”
Benson’s head nodded agreement to the giant’s deduction. “Gottlieb was murdered by someone who didn’t touch a thing on his person or in his office. The killer simply came in, murdered, turned the lights off and left. There is your motive. Gottlieb’s lighted windows would ruin the slanting light signal planned in the cryptogram. He had to be gotten out of here and his windows darkened by a certain hour. Probably the man wanting to give the signal tried several tricks to get Gottlieb out of his office peaceably. Gottlieb didn’t fall for them. The time of the signal was at hand. The man had to kill Gottlieb to give it.”
“So,” rumbled Smitty, “the signal now has been given that ‘all is ready.’ And that means that the thing that is ready is the steal of Bison Park. I wonder where the next act takes place?”
“On the Senate floor in the morning,” said The Avenger quietly. “The last act would have to be there. Which means we will have to move fast or the government will lose valuable Bison Park with its helium deposits—a loss that might mean the difference between victory and defeat in time of war.”
CHAPTER XIII
Color Blind
It was the wee small hour of the morning again. But again
Benson went up to the tenth floor to the office where murder had been committed.
Gottlieb lay beside the chair from which he had slumped, next to his desk. His head was a gory ruin. But it seemed otherwise untouched. His clothes were not in the disarray that should have resulted from a search. And as far as could be seen, not one thing in the office had been touched.
Two detectives and the coroner were in the office. One of the detectives caught that swift, all-embracing glance of The Avenger and read it.
“Not one thing was touched or taken, as far as we can tell,” he said to Benson. Meanwhile he stared in awe at this legendary person. “There don’t seem to have been a motive for murder at all. Unless some enemy of the guy killed him because he was sore at him. Anyhow, all we know is that somebody sneaked in here, killed Gottlieb, turned the lights out, and sneaked away again.”
“You mean he just came in, killed, turned off the lights, and left?” said the giant Smitty. “Nothing else?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
The Avenger was saying nothing. But the pale, cold eyes were like shiny, stainless steel chips.
“I think that will be all that this murder can tell us,” he said to Mac and Smitty. And he started away.
Outside the building, the Scot couldn’t contain himself any longer. “And the murrrder of the toy man does tell ye something, Muster Benson?” he burred.
The Avenger nodded. “The slanting line of light,” he quoted the decoded cryptogram.
“I don’t—” began Mac uncertainly.
“The line of light referred to in the message in Aldershot’s pocket must mean a slanting line of lighted windows in a certain building—the Rocker Building—at a certain time. That was to be the signal to someone that ‘all is ready.’ I’ve thought that was the way of it, for some time. This proves it.
“That someone is the man we’re after; the instigator of this gigantic criminal plot. But like so many other criminal minds, he has directed his plans—his murders—from behind the scenes; unknown even to those doing his bidding. He is probably in a window of one of these neighboring buildings or many blocks away reading the message, ‘all is ready,’ with binoculars.”
“I get it,” Smitty said, understanding The Avenger’s implication. “Protection against blackmail. The head of this steal doesn’t want his own men to know who he is for fear they’ll put the squeeze on him later.”
Benson’s head nodded agreement to the giant’s deduction. “Gottlieb was murdered by someone who didn’t touch a thing on his person or in his office. The killer simply came in, murdered, turned the lights off and left. There is your motive. Gottlieb’s lighted windows would ruin the slanting light signal planned in the cryptogram. He had to be gotten out of here and his windows darkened by a certain hour. Probably the man wanting to give the signal tried several tricks to get Gottlieb out of his office peaceably. Gottlieb didn’t fall for them. The time of the signal was at hand. The man had to kill Gottlieb to give it.”
“So,” rumbled Smitty, “the signal now has been given that ‘all is ready.’ And that means that the thing that is ready is the steal of Bison Park. I wonder where the next act takes place?”
“On the Senate floor in the morning,” said The Avenger quietly. “The last act would have to be there. Which means we will have to move fast or the government will lose valuable Bison Park with its helium deposits—a loss that might mean the difference between victory and defeat in time of war.”
CHAPTER XIII
Color Blind
It was the wee small hour of the morning again. But again
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