The Exploits of Elaine

The Exploits of Elaine, by Arthur
B. Reeve

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Title: The Exploits of Elaine
Author: Arthur B. Reeve

Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5151] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 15,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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THE CRAIG KENNEDY SERIES
THE EXPLOITS OF ELAINE
BY
ARTHUR B. REEVE

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
THE CLUTCHING HAND
II THE TWILIGHT SLEEP
III THE VANISHING JEWELS

IV "THE FROZEN SAFE"
V THE POISONED ROOM
VI THE VAMPIRE
VII THE DOUBLE TRAP
VIII THE HIDDEN VOICE
IX THE DEATH RAY
X THE LIFE CURRENT
XI THE HOUR OF THREE
XII THE BLOOD CRYSTALS
XIII THE DEVIL WORSHIPPERS
XIV THE RECKONING

THE EXPLOITS OF ELAINE
CHAPTER I
THE CLUTCHING HAND
"Jameson, here's a story I wish you'd follow up," remarked the
managing editor of the Star to me one evening after I had turned in an
assignment of the late afternoon.
He handed me a clipping from the evening edition of the Star and I
quickly ran my eye over the headline:
"THE CLUTCHING HAND" WINS AGAIN
NEW YORK'S MYSTERIOUS MASTER CRIMINAL PERFECTS

ANOTHER COUP
CITY POLICE COMPLETELY BAFFLED
"Here's this murder of Fletcher, the retired banker and trustee of the
University," he explained. "Not a clue--except a warning letter signed
with this mysterious clutching fist. Last week it was the robbery of the
Haxworth jewels and the killing of old Haxworth. Again that curious
sign of the hand. Then there was the dastardly attempt on Sherburne,
the steel magnate. Not a trace of the assailant except this same
clutching fist. So it has gone, Jameson--the most alarming and most
inexplicable series of murders that has ever happened in this country.
And nothing but this uncanny hand to trace them by."
The editor paused a moment, then exclaimed, "Why, this fellow seems
to take a diabolical--I might almost say pathological-- pleasure in
crimes of violence, revenge, avarice and self- protection. Sometimes it
seems as if he delights in the pure deviltry of the thing. It is weird."
He leaned over and spoke in a low, tense tone. "Strangest of all, the tip
has just come to us that Fletcher, Haxworth, Sherburne and all the rest
of those wealthy men were insured in the Consolidated Mutual Life.
Now, Jameson, I want you to find Taylor Dodge, the president, and
interview him. Get what you can, at any cost."
I had naturally thought first of Kennedy, but there was no time now to
call him up and, besides, I must see Dodge immediately.
Dodge, I discovered over the telephone, was not at home, nor at any of
the clubs to which he belonged. Late though it was I concluded that he
was at his office. No amount of persuasion could get me past the door,
and, though I found out later and shall tell soon what was going on
there, I determined, about nine o'clock, that the best way to get at
Dodge was to go to his house on Fifth Avenue, if I had to camp on his
front doorstep until morning. The harder I found the story to get, the
more I wanted it.
With some misgivings about being admitted, I rang the bell of the

splendid, though not very modern, Dodge residence. An English butler,
with a nose that must have been his fortune, opened the door and
gravely informed me that Mr. Dodge was not at home, but was
expected at any moment.
Once in, I was not going lightly to give up that advantage. I bethought
myself of his daughter, Elaine, one of the most popular debutantes of
the