The Black Abbot, 10-2-1938

The story opens with a couple men working in a church at night. They are working on a restoration of part of the church. Then they hear the sound of someone walking, then see somebody dressed in black. The men flee.

Then there's a meeting of the church finance committee. Randolph, the architect, is present and talks about the problem the workmen are having since the appearance of the Black Abbot. Some of them decide to spend a night in the church to disprove the existence of the ghost.

There will only be two men in the group, and they are going to stay there that night. It's three in the morning when the men hear a noise. Then they hear the sound of the organ playing. They go to see who is doing it, but no one is at the organ although it's still playing.

Then they see the Black Abbot and one guy runs away. The other stays behind. The “ghost” says that the other guy should have left. The abbot says that he has desecrated the church and he kills the guy.

The guy who left gets help, and several men go to the church. They go into the church and find the guy; he's hung, dead, and on the bell rope.

Lamont then appears, and a guy tells him that three other members of the church committee have disappeared. It's been a month since the first death.

Lamont and Margo are at the church. Lamont has learned that some stone figures have been brought to an ancient abbey in Europe. There was an abbot at that one in the past who disgraced the church. Lamont doesn't know why the “black abbot” wants the work on the church stopped.

Lamont then yells, defying the black abbot to show up. Then they hear a sound of a guy coming towards them. Lamont will be the Shadow, sitting next to Margo. The abbot yells wanting to know who called for him.

The guy comes close to Margo, and then hears the voice of the Shadow. The Shadow accuses him of killing the one guy. He runs away and then yells again. He says they will both die for desecrating his abbey.

Later, Lamont and Margo are talking. Lamont says they now know the black abbot is not actually a ghost. They return to the church in the daytime. They separate. Some guy shows up and scares Margo; he's Randolph, the architect. He says Lamont can look at the original plans for the church. He wants them to meet with him that night in the church.

Randolph wants Margo to work with him; they separate from Lamont, searching the church walls. She presses a corner stone and a panel opens. Randolph grabs her and pulls her into a passage. He takes her to a place above the church ceiling, and below the church roof. Randolph admits to being the black abbot.

The bodies of the other members of the church committee are there. He tells her he plans to kill her. The organ starts to play. Then the voice of the Shadow is heard. Randolph admits his identity as the black abbot. The Shadow asks why he murdered the men. Apparently there are priceless relics in the walls of the church. Randolph has a knife; the Shadow fights him. Randolph starts to run away. He plans to slid down the bell rope, but he ends up falling to his death.

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