"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 027 - The Silent Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"What if he detaches it?" inquired Jocelyn, in a weak voice.

"He cannot," responded the professor. "It is firmly fixed in place. He might manage to smash it, if he
understood its purpose. But he simply considers it as a noise-making nuisance. He will decide to forget
it."

Professor Urlich's statement was proven when Sartain went back to the desk. Nevertheless, the
millionaire continued to glance impatiently toward the corner. They saw his hand press a button upon the
desk.

"He is ringing for some one to attend to the radiator," observed Urlich. "The call will not be answered.
Brooks has plugged the bell. Neither he nor the secretary will hear it."

A FEW minutes passed; then the watchers saw Sartain raise his hand to his forehead. Ricordo, taking the
opera glasses, observed that the millionaire's face seemed a trifle pale. Professor Urlich chuckled as
Sartain again pressed the button on his desk.

"He wonders why no one comes," remarked the scientist. "It is not the noise of the radiator now. Sartain
is beginning to feel a faintness, due to the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. He will go to the window
next."

The prediction proved true. Sartain went to the window and tried to open it. He tussled with the fastening
to no avail. The framework would not yield.

"It is firmly fastened," stated Urlich. "Jammed into place, by the painters. He will give it up. Watch him go
to the door."

Alfred Sartain staggered momentarily as he crossed the room. The effort at the window had weakened
him. He tried the knob of the door, and tugged furiously. The portal failed to open.

"That knob is ingeniously arranged," explained Urlich. "This is the first time that the door has been shut
since it was fixed. It will not turn the heavy latch at present. After some one opens the door from the
other sideтАФas Brooks or the secretary will do later onтАФthe action from the outside will make the inner
knob function perfectly. There will be no clewтАФafter Sartain is dead."

The millionaire seemed groggy. Urlich chuckled. Ricordo looked on in admiration. He was gaining a great
respect for Urlich's ingenuity. Jocelyn, trembling, but fascinated, put an anxious question.

"Suppose that he breaks the windowpanes?" asked the financier. "If he realizes that he needs air?"

"That will be next," lectured Professor Urlich. "It will prove futile"тАФ the scientist paused as they saw
Sartain stride unsteadily toward the windowтАФ "because the original panes were all removed during the
renovation. The new ones are all of bullet-proof glass."

Sartain had seized a large book. They watched him throw it at the window. The volume rebounded from
a pane. The millionaire hurled a small ash stand. It, too, dropped back.

Lifting a chair, the trapped man began to pound at the barrier. The iron framework and the panels of
special glass withstood his effort. Sartain staggered back to the desk, almost on the verge of collapse.