"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 008 - The Black Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"It's plain enough to me, chief," said Cardona, tuning to Inspector Burke. "The professor here knows
what he is doing. I've been in the same fix myself. He's waiting to play his trump card. That's all."

"I get you!" said the inspector. "All right, professor, we're counting on you!"

Doctor Zerndorff rose and the other men followed. The three went downstairs together in the elevator.

On the ground floor, the professor placed his finger against his lips, and then spoke softly in the mellow
light of the empty hallway.

"Up to now," he said, "these men have struck for just one thing - to frighten. Perhaps they shall try to
scare again. I think so, yes.

"Perhaps you, Herr Detective, can discover them before they strike! A bomb - you may find somewhere.
But after that, they shall not try to scare. They will only protect themselves.

"They may fight, yes? If they do, who is the one they shall fight? The police? I say no! The police are too
many.

"Here is the one" - he tapped his chest expressively. "I am the one, yes; the one that they shall fight! They
know that I know. You understand? There is danger, or there will be danger, here in New York, for
me!"

"That sounds logical, chief," observed Cardona, looking at Inspector Burke.

"So," said Doctor Zerndorff quietly, "do you think that I shall wait? No, no! It is for my own safety that I
should see these men in prison.

"You may think of the public, Herr Inspector. That is good. I think, too, of the public - but," he smiled, "I
think also of myself!"

He went to the outer door and carefully unbarred it. Standing in semidarkness, he peered across the
street. An automobile lurked beside the opposite curb.

"See?" whispered Doctor Zerndorff. "It may be now. I am suspicious. Friend or foe, I know not. So go,
my friends, and remember that I shall solve this plot for you!"

Burke and Cardona stepped to the street. The door closed behind them. They heard the click of bolts.
The inspector coughed uneasily.

"Let's get the lay, Joe," he said.

The two men walked boldly across the street. They saw two shadowy forms seated in the front seat of
the sedan. Cardona's fingers sought the butt of his automatic.

"What're you doing here, buddies?" he asked.

Something sparkled on the breast of the man beside the wheel. In the reflected light of the street,
Cardona recognized the badge of a secret-service agent.
"Hello, Cardona," came a low voice. "That's Inspector Burke with you, eh?"