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

"My prestige? Where is it now; I may have had some before I obeyed the impulse to flee to safety. Yet I
was wise to go into hiding. I learned that my enemy had arranged a complete frame-up that would make
my sudden death seem well-deserved. I believed that."

"What do you intend to do now?"

"I'm leaving that up to you. You are free to lift the lid with the most sensational true exposure of crime
that has ever appeared. Meanwhile, I shall be traveling. You will hear from me when the time comes for
my statements."

"When Double Z has been exposed?"

"Yes. If the exposure fails, I shall still be safeтАФsafer than I am here in New York."

Caulkins arose and paced the room. He swung toward Tolland with a question.

"When shall I start?"
"Right now!" declared Tolland, as if fearing to hesitate. "Every minute may be precious, now that some
one has discovered me. Call your newspaper from here. Give them the story, while I am here to check
on any questions. Then we shall both leave and that paper will remain in your possession."

Caulkins picked up the message from Double Z. He spread it and pointed to the signature.

"Who is Double Z?" he asked.

"I shall tell you, Caulkins," replied Tolland. "His name is an important one. There is method in everything
he does even in that signature. What does it represent to you?"

"Double Z. Two initials. I can think of no one who would have such initials."

Judge Tolland seized the paper.

"Look now!" he declared, moving his finger across the signature. "Does that mean anything to you?
Forget Double Z. Think of a big manтАФ a powerful, prominent man whose initials are -"

Caulkins suddenly stiffened. A startled look of incredulity came into his widening eyes. Before he could
reply, Tolland picked up a pen and paper from the table and wrote a series of short lines, inscribing his
signature beneath.

"There!" he exclaimed in a voice of indignation. "There is the name of the fiendтАФthe merciless murderer!
I have written it, with my signature beneath. That is my statement to you. Tell your paper; tell the police.
When it is safe, you can count on me to testify!"

Caulkins leaped to the telephone. He dialed a number. He stood, with both papers on the table before
him, studying one and then the other, his eyes bulging, his breath coming in anxious gasps.

"Classic?"

His question came in a wildly eager whisper. Judge Tolland, eyes gleaming expectantly, stood close
beside the reporter, tense and hopeful.