The Avenger 15 - House of Death by Kenneth Robeson Read Free Book Online

business there,” said Benson, pale eyes like diamond drills on the dark face.
    “More than just a little,” said the man, showing white teeth in a smile. “My family has had dealings all over the Orient for years. They have reason to remember the man who, among other things, opened up the Mosul oilfields.”
    “Your family?”
    The man straightened up, much as Carmella had done.
    “The family of Haygar. Turkish branch, in my case. In fact, I am the last of that branch.”
    Smitty started a little, as that once-great name was sounded a second time in here.
    “I am Shan Haygar,” said the man. “I have no wealth, now. I have no friends in New York that I can trust implicitly. And I need your help. So I came to you.”
    “Justice, Inc., has helped a few persons, now and then,” said Benson.
    “That,” whispered Nellie to Smitty, “is what you’d call a miracle of understatement.”
    “The affair in which I need help does not sound important, but to me, it is—very,” said Shan. “As I said, I have no money. I escaped Turkey only with my life and a few keepsakes relative to the power my family once enjoyed. Principal among these was a small gold medallion that has been stolen from me in the last few hours. I want to beg your help in getting it back. It has no real value, but it has great sentimental attachments.”
    “Where have I heard that before?” whispered Nellie.
    The Avenger’s basilisk eyes were still on the visitor’s face.
    “You have an idea who stole the coin?” came his calm, vibrant voice.
    Shan nodded, face dark with anger.
    “An old man whom I befriended. A spidery old fellow. I am sure he took the medallion. I know where he lives. But I have hesitated to call the police because I do not want it known that I am in this country. Where once we were able to go anywhere on the strength of our name, now we are fugitives who hesitate to reveal our identities.”
    The Avenger’s head, with its thick, black hair, nodded.
    “I will help you. You wish to go to this man’s place and see if he has the medallion?”
    “Yes,” said Shan eagerly.
    Nellie Gray seldom remonstrated with the chief, no matter how worried she might be over the insane chances he took. But this time her worry overcame her discretion. She drew him aside.
    “Chief,” she whispered frantically, “you aren’t going with him, are you?”
    “Of course,” said The Avenger.
    “But the man’s story sounds phony from start to finish! It’s probably nothing but a trap of some kind!”
    “He mentions a medallion,” said Benson calmly. “So did Carmella Haygar. Now Carmella has been foolish enough to go out. She may be in great danger. This may be a lead to her whereabouts.”
    “Take Smitty or somebody with you—”
    “Better to go alone with him,” said Benson, whose motto seemed to be: always walk into a trap, because within it you might learn something.

    Shan Haygar’s dark face expressed thanks and anxiety as the coupé bore him and The Avenger toward the East Side address he mentioned. Benson’s pale, deadly eyes raked level along the street as he swerved the powerful car an inch here or there to weave through traffic.
    “This medallion,” he said finally. “Will you describe it, please?”
    Shan nodded, dark eyes furtively sliding to Dick’s impressively calm face and away again.
    “It is a gold coin about the size of your twenty-five-cent piece. On it are the letters H H, the numbers 29 32, and a sort of coat of arms of the Haygar family.”
    “I see. And the meaning of the numbers and letters?”
    “I really don’t know,” said Shan apologetically. “I suppose there was a meaning at one time, but it has been lost to memory now.”
    They got to the address he had given.
    It was a moderately good building near Sixteenth Street with about a hundred apartments in it. Shan Haygar traced names at the bells with his forefinger. He swore fluently in Turkish, seeming utterly outraged, as he stopped at one