"deaths_option" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barton Gary)

I started to say something about the smoke I'd seen come from Goldswaite's
lips. But perhaps the smoke had come from the cigar--from his stomach when
he gagged. It sounded foolish, now. Anyway I didn't. I couldn't have said
anything. Haley had slammed the phone in my ear.

Maybe I should have forgotten about the whole thing and gone home to bed.
But, somehow, Lieutenant Haley's words didn't hit home. I still thought
Goldswaite had been murdered. Don't ask me why. It was all too screwy for
me to figure out just then.

I thumbed through the phone book, then dialed Gracey's home on the Drive.
He sputtered his head off about having been illegally arrested or something;
but he wasn't reluctant about giving me Janet Marsh's address. It was the
same as Wayne had given the cab driver. It didn't add up.

But one thought did stand clear in my otherwise befuddled mind: Wayne
hadn't been protecting his sister. He would have known that I'd go to her
apartment after I regained consciousness. Unless, of course, he had
figured on getting Janet out of sight before I had time to come to and get
back.

Somehow, though, I figured that the whole set-up rested on Wayne Marsh
rather than on his sister!


I had the cabby speeding back the Express Highway by then. The promise
of an extra fin had him racing the lights across Fifty-seventh Street.
I was almost glad I hadn't promised him more.

"Wait!" I shot at him as he braked to the curb. I was halfway to the
apartment-hotel entrance before the heap stopped rocking. The doorman
probably didn't see anything except a blur and the gold shield that I
flashed in his face. I grabbed the waiting elevator. "Miss Marsh's
apartment--fast!" The shield meant that I wasn't in the mood to answer
questions.

"7-C," the operator said. He stopped the car at the floor and slid open
the doors. I saw the ring of pass keys, hanging over his control panel.
I said: "Open it!"

Maybe it was the shield again that did the trick. Maybe it was the set of
my jaw. He started to say something; then he walked ahead and opened 7-C.
I didn't expect to find either Janet or her brother awaiting visitors.
Certainly not. But I wanted to have a look around. I might find something.

I did! I found Wayne Marsh. But I didn't have to worry about his hanging
another lump on my head. He was sprawled on the floor near the bedroom. I
raced over to him. A bullet had crashed into his chest. And not many minutes
before; the blood hadn't clotted yet. I reached for his wrist and a breath