"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 009 - Mobsmen on the Spot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"To see him," he said tersely.

"For what purpose?" came the question.

Marsland shrugged his shoulders.

A low laugh came from beneath the broad-brimmed hat. Even to Marsland, the laugh was chilling. He
shifted uneasily and stared narrowly at his inquisitor.

"Cliff Marsland!" said the whispered voice. "That was not your name - fourteen years agoтАФwhen you
were overseas -"

Marsland stared incredulously as the voice trailed away. He moved slightly in his chair, seeking to gain a
new angle from which to view the man in black. He was unsuccessful.

"Perhaps," said the voice, "you remember the village of Esternay, in the Spring of '18 or, perhaps, that
trip to Monte Carlo, three weeks after the Armistice? Do you recall Blanton, the Frenchman -"

Marsland half rose from his chair, his hands gripping the arms, his face suddenly tense, his body rigid with
suppressed excitement.

"Who are you?" he demanded hoarsely. "Who are you?"

A low, whispered laugh was the only response. Its sibilant sound seemed to come from the walls, from
the floor, from the ceilingтАФas if the room itself were taunting the listener. Marsland sank back in his
chair.

"Like yourself," came the low voice, "I am a man whose name has been forgotten. We shall speak no
more of years gone by. You are now Clifford Marsland. I am"тАФthe voice halted impressivelyтАФ"The
Shadow!"

"The Shadow!" echoed Marsland.
"Yes! You have never met me in my present guise. For I began my new career while you were in -"

"Sing Sing," supplied Marsland.

"In Sing Sing," said The Shadow. "ThereтАФfor a robbery you did not commit!"

CLIFF MARSLAND raised his head in sudden surprise.

"How do you know that?" he questioned. "I made no defense. I never denied itтАФI never -"

The low voice of The Shadow interrupted him.

"The fact that I know is sufficient," came in his even tones. "Nor is that all I know.

"There was another crime a greater oneтАФa murderтАФwhich has also been attributed to you. Not by the
police, for they do not know; but by the underworld, whose secrets belong to The Shadow!"

Marsland nodded, still staring at the man in black.