Read The Avenger 6 - The Blood Ring for Free Online Page B

her lips to hold back a scream as she got an inkling of what had happened.
    “You get out of her!” she said hoarsely. “What have you done to me? What did I say? Leave here or I’ll call the police!”
    Threatening to call the police against Benson was funny. But Benson only nodded, handed the gun back to her, and left.
    “Lawyer Farnum Shaw,” he mused. “Mentioned also by Caine, as an example of a collector who would give any amount for the Taros relics. I think we’ll have a talk with Shaw.”
    Smitty had gasped when he saw the tall, exotic girl, Anna Lees, in the filmy nightgown so like the priestess’ robe she had worn the night before. He was stunned beyond gasping when he saw the lawyer, Farnum Shaw.
    Shaw, corporation lawyer, lobbyist, stock dabbler, was over six feet tall and as thin as a skeleton. He had practically no eyebrows or eyelashes. He was lantern-jawed and lank of countenance. There wasn’t a hair on his high-domed skull, from nape of the neck to forehead. His head looked like a billiard ball, with an eagle beak of a nose sticking out on the face side.
    The corporation lawyer was dressed in riding breeches and checked coat for an early-morning horseback ride in Rock Creek Park when Benson and Smitty reached his home. He talked as dully as he acted. If this was the individual who had been doing an appearing and disappearing act last night, his manner concealed it well.
    “I have heard of you,” he nodded pleasantly at the self-introduction of the man with the icy-slits of eyes and the white, still face. “What can I do for you?”
    “I came to see you about the Taros relics,” said The Avenger, eyes as expressionless as his paralyzed face.
    Shaw jerked his bald, vulture head.
    “Ah, yes, Mr. Benson. Wonderful pieces, those! The amulets are the finest of their kind in existence, I believe. And the Ring of Power, with its incredible past and its niche in history—” He sighed. “I collect Egyptiana myself, as it happens, in a modest way.”
    “We have heard you did,” said Benson.
    Shaw smiled calmly.
    “I have nothing as fine as the Taros relics, of course, Mr. Benson. But I’d like to have that kind of thing. There isn’t much I wouldn’t give for them.”
    Shaw’s candor took Smitty’s breath. But The Avenger was as icy calm as his eyes.
    “Not many people know much about the Taros amulets,” he observed. “You seem to know all about them.”
    Shaw shrugged.
    “Spencer, of Braintree Museum, is a close friend of mine. I’m also slightly acquainted with Moen and Evans and Gunther Caine. I heard some time ago of the discovery of the tomb of Taros’ son, and that the amulets and ring would be on their way here as soon as Cairo allowed shipment.”
    Suddenly Shaw’s eyes narrowed. His face changed like a flash.
    “Something has happened to the relics,” he said. “That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re asking— The amulets have been stolen!”
    Benson nodded, pale eyes probing the lashless eyes of this modern, legal expert who chanced to look so remarkably like a high priest, dead these thousands of years.
    “They have been stolen,” said Benson. “But no one knows it yet, save Gunther Caine and his son—and the thief. It must not be told to anyone else.”
    “I understand,” said Shaw gravely. “Caine’s position—horrible! By the way, am I under suspicion?”
    Benson said nothing. His eyes, like pale agate, were glittering and unreadable in his white, waxen face.
    “Of course I’m under suspicion,” said Shaw crisply and without seeming anger. “I collect rare Egyptian items. I am wealthy. Most collectors would buy things like the Taros relics from anybody offering them, and no questions asked. I can only assure you—”
    “Would you mind telling me what you and Anna Lees talked about shortly before nine o’clock last night?” The Avenger cut in smoothly.
    “Anna Lees! How did you know I knew her? But I don’t know her well. Her father was a