Idea inspired by:
Image by: Thomas Boatwright
The Shadow meets The Wolfman! - Part 1
By: Kelly Johnson
Cast:
Dr, Wilfred Glendon [optional: English accent]
Commissioner Weston
Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
Margo Lane
(“The Spinning Wheel”)
Weston: Now, Dr. Glendon, I want you to tell me exactly what the bodies looked like when you examined them with the chief medical officer on the Lady Marian?
Glendon: (drolly) If you must, Commissioner. The ship docked nearly two months ago, and I realize the new rash of murders plaguing your city are exact duplicates, but you already have my statement on record.
Weston: I still want it from you again. You were the first medical professional on the scene too, and I need every detail from what you saw if we're to catch this fiend! There's no obvious motive, no pattern to his victims, but there must be some clue that will reveal which of the passengers that got off the ship is the murderer!
(Weston and Glendon are heard in the background debating though their words are unclear. Glendon sounds almost bored.)
Margo: Lamont, isn't that Dr. Wilfred Glendon, the famous [English?] botanist and physician?
Lamont: Indeed it is Margo, and it appears that Weston seems to be inquiring about the murders on the ship called the Lady Marian again.
Margo: But that was over two months ago!
Lamont: I know, but I think Weston is on the right track with this one. Those recent murders, and the ship, are somehow connected.
Margo: I remember it was Dr. Glendon who offered to stay in the city to leave statements with the police when the ship docked. He'd just returned from Tibet after collecting flowers for some new cure he's working on...
Lamont: Not just any flowers, Margo; the Mariphasa flower. I remember it well from the time I spent studying there. It's a beautiful thing, and it only blooms at night. Because of that, it's healing qualities are shrouded deep in myth and superstition.
Margo: Well, either way, Weston seems to be giving him a hard time about what he saw on the boat. Perhaps we should go over there and help him out a little.
Lamont: Hmmm, maybe you're right. Weston won't be getting anything new details from him. He's already given a professionally detailed report, there's little a mind of his caliber would have overlooked...
(Lamont's voice fades out, and Weston's bellowing tone becomes coherent again)
Weston: Doctor, please. You're the only official witness in the entire city, there must...
Lamont: (interrupting) Good evening, Commissioner Weston.
Weston: (flustered) Cranston...and Miss Lane. I didn't realize you two were here.
Margo: Well, we weren't until you missed dinner, so we figured you were busy at the station again.
Weston: It's all because of this murderer, people are calling him the 'Moonlight Menace'. Ever since he came to New York, he waits until the full moon, and then commits the most horrifying crimes this city has ever seen!
Glendon: The Commissioner was just asking if there were any details I may have overlooked upon viewing the scenes of the first murders on the Lady Marian. I assured him...
Weston: (Interrupting) I still think there must be some detail you overlooked! Every killer leaves behind a clue, and so far, the only clues this one has left behind, are the mutilated bodies of his victims! Now, Doctor...
Lamont: Um, Commissioner, perhaps giving the Good Doctor some time to think over the things he witnessed on the ship will allow him to recall any details he may have missed. Though, I highly doubt there are any flaws in your report Doctor...
Glendon: Why, thank you...I do not believe we have met.
Lamont: I'm Lamont Cranston, and may I introduce Miss Margo Lane.
Glendon: A pleasure, Miss Lane.
Margo: Likewise.
Lamont: Anyways, I was just thinking that it's late, and perhaps we could take Dr. Glendon back to his hotel, Commissioner. There's a full moon tomorrow, and I imagine you're very busy.
Weston: (angry) Busy?! You wouldn't know the meaning of the word...
Lamont: (interrupting the beginning of a tirade) Well, good night Commissioner. And good hunting.
(Indistinguishable grumbling from Weston fades out in the background)
Glendon: Mr. Cranston, Miss Lane, I appreciate the rescue.
Margo: Of course! I can't remember the last time Commissioner Weston sounded so angry!
Glendon: He's well within his right, I think. It's a terrible thing, these murders, and there's no apparent logic behind them. I've tried putting my own mind to the task, hoping there was some crucial detail I may have overlooked at the scenes on the ship, but I'm afraid I'm only a doctor, and not much of an investigator.
Lamont: Well Doctor, there's no need to concern yourself with it any more. We'll be glad to give you a ride home. With all the lectures you've given, and Weston's inquisition, I imagine you've had a time of it here.
Glendon: (reflecting) Indeed. It's long from over. I have another week of lecture at the institute, and then I'm off to Boston. I have a feeling that Weston will do his best to keep me from leaving.
Margo: Oh, you can leave that man to us. (laughter) You have more important things to do!
Glendon: Such as lecturing students on the botanical miracle of a plant that blooms at night? I doubt the Commissioner would see it that way.
Lamont: Well, here's the car. Say, Dr. Glendon, I may sit in on one of your lectures, I spent some time in Tibet once...
(Voices fade out as car doors close, and an engine starts up. The car drives off)
[Continued in PART 2...]
