"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 011 - Double Z" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

realize it later when I tell you who he is. The warning came from him."

"He is Double Z?"

"Yes. He knows that I am still alive. He wants to kill me. I have frustrated the man for months. I shaved
my mustache and dyed my hair. Yet, despite my changed appearance, you recognized me, which is proof
that my disguise is insufficient. So I am now ready to act; to bring this affair to a crisis; to meet my enemy
and turn his own weapons upon him."

"His own weapons?"

"Yes. The letters he has been sending to the police. What do you think is their purpose?"
"I considered them the messages of a fanatic."

"The man is a fanatic," admitted Tolland, "but an amazingly clever one. I am the only person who knows
the purpose of his messages. They are sent to frighten me."

"To frighten you?"

"Certainly! When I received mineтАФthe first of all the Double Z correspondenceтАФI took it seriously and
went into hiding, in this house. The enemy suspected my game. He knew that I was protecting my own
skin in order to deliver a counterattack.

"He felt that the effect of his threat would gradually wear off. So he launched his campaign of informing
the police of his intended murders, believing that each one would weaken my morale when I heard of it."

CAULKINS sat upright in his chair. This amazing statement threw a new light on Double Z. It showed a
method behind the criminal's strange notes to the police.

"For months," went on Tolland, "I have been giving my enemy a chance to betray himself. One slipтАФone
slight clew of his identity to the policeтАФand my reappearance would clinch the fight for justice. That clew
has not been forthcoming. And I, alone, cannot give his name to the authorities. It must come from
himтАФfrom some act of his.

"Nevertheless, I have decided to actтАФbecause of you."

"Why because of me?" asked Caulkins in surprise.

"There are two reasons," declared the judge calmly. "First, because you discovered me. That shows that
my enemy may discover me, also. I am not immune."

"I saw you in a little barber shop," explained Caulkins, "having your hair dyed. Your chin looked familiar.
I followed you here. I obtained a key that opened the vestibule door."

"The second reason," continued Tolland, passing over the reporter's explanation, "is because you
credited that note when you saw it. I was afraid to put it to the test before. Now I am sure that I shall be
believed when I speak."

"With your prestige -"