10 Story Detective, July 1942 — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

(Shas a a first floor. Gordon found a length of stout rope. Stuart ordered Bates to sit down in a straight-backed chair and Gordon tied him firmly. “It looks like this is the end of the line for you, Bates,” Stuart said. “You killed three men that we know of. You just tried to murder Kerrigan and I expect the heavy weight in your side pocket is either from the granite idol you swiped at Gordon’s home, or it’s Kerrigan’s, which you picked up in this house. No matter—we’ll get to the meaning of those granite gods later. At the moment I want a state- ment from you.” Bates looked at his three captors and leered. 'f the man was afraid, he certainly hid his emotions well. “Okay, pals,” he snarled. “But sup- pose we start by explaining the gran- ite gods, as you call them. They are gods all right, carved out of a moun- tain ruled over by the Storm God. The same guy who can start a storm anywhere he wishes. Right here in this room, for instance. He can make the wind howl so fast a man could easily die from lack of breath. Like Meredith and Terry.” “We know what you mean,” Stuart said. “How did you do it?” “Me?” Bates laughed harshly. “You got this figured all wrong. You’re like a lot of other damn fools who don’t believe in certain things. Well, I lived in Alaska for years. I know this Storm God is the real thing. The Eskimos worship him. The white men don’t say much about it, but they respect the Storm God. “He’s a giant—all shiny—like ice. Maybe he is ice. Nobody ever got close enough to find out. But he took Leonard, didn’t he? He tried to get Alexander too, but missed up. Later on, he took care of him.” ORDON moved forward. “This man is insane. Yes, we heard all about the Storm God in Alaska. Everything Bates has said is common knowledge there, but it’s the bunk just the same. I say, let’s beat the ————_ TAKEN FOR A SLAY RIDE edd truth out of this killer. Make him tell why he murdered those men.” “Wait a minute.” Stuart waved Gordon aside. “I’d like to know more about the Storm God. You see, he’s not exactly a stranger to me and he does possess certain qualities that I can’t explain. The fact is, I put three bullets smack through him and he didn’t fall. Go on, Bates. You know the Storm God. He’s operating here, taking revenge or something against the men who invaded his mountain. What’s it got to do with you?” Bates was smiling coldly, as sure of himself as though he held the guns and the others were tied to chairs. “I carved those idols, one for each of the men who hired me as a guide. The Eskimos told me not to do it, but I laughed at them. Then atter these wise guys had gone back to the States with the idols, we had violent storms every day, every night. Men died in them. Mines were destroyed. There were avalanches and even the glaciers on the Storm God’s mountain, started to move faster. I knew I had to get those idols back. The Eskimos knew it too and made me promise to come here after them.” Gordon laughed sarcastically, but Kerrigan looked a bit paler than usua] and kept running fingers through his tousled hair. Stuart looked down at Bates. That,” he said, “‘is the craziest ex- cuse for murder I ever heard. Bates, you’re a fool if you expect us to be- lieve you.” “Yeah? Okay, I’m a fool. But you three guys are crazier than me be- cause you refuse to believe. Listen, while I’m searching for those idols, I’m under the protection of the Storm God. The Eskimos promised me that. I can call on him any time I wish and he’ll answer me. I could have one of those storms begin right now. I could get up out of this chair any time I wished. Ropes mean nothing to me.” “Let’s see you do it,” Gordon de- rided. ‘Maybe you’re invulnerable to 6)\O)O) @ (CONNIE cS (C(O) im