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

"He is nearing the end of his resources," observed the scientist, taking the opera glasses from Ricordo.
"AhтАФhe is using the telephone. That, too, will be futile."

Sartain, leaning on the desk, had the receiver to his ear. The line was dead. He was joggling the hook
with his other hand and anxiously listening while he tried to establish connection with the operator. A
queer chortle came from Urlich's lips.

"What is the matter?" questioned Jocelyn.

"Nothing," answered the professor. "I am merely glad that we came here to-night. Sartain's present
actions have given me an excellent idea. This is but one death, Jocelyn. There will be others, and some
may be emergencies. What I have just seen has given me an inspiration - a sure way to deal death even
though I prefer the silence that we are viewing now -"

The speaker stopped suddenly as Sartain fell across the desk. Ricordo laughed hoarsely. Jocelyn
gasped. They saw Sartain roll sidewise and rest with his back slouched against the desk, his eyes staring
upward.

"The end is near," announced Professor Urlich. "The oxygen supply has not only decreased; the room
also contains a considerable quantity of carbon dioxide. That gasтАФwhich we emit when breathingтАФwill
not sustain life.

"Should Sartain lose his hold upon the desk and fall to the floor, the end will come more rapidly.
However, it is well within my expected schedule. Our victim is doomed. There is no possible source from
which he can gain fresh air."
"Is he dying now?" quizzed Jocelyn, in an unsteady tone.

"Not quite," replied the professor. "One burst of fresh air would revive him quickly."

"He is staring upward."

"Yes. Toward the skylight. He realizes his predicament, and he would like to reach that spot. He does
not possess the strength, however. Furthermore, it would afford him no outlet. The skylight, like the
window, is firmly jammed. There is no object high enoughтАФ even a chair upon the deskтАФto let Sartain
reach it with more than his finger tips. The thick glass would be almost impossible to break."

"I can't see it," said Ricordo.

"The room is quite high," remarked Urlich. "The skylight is in the sloping roof."

"He might have managed that way," observed Jocelyn.

"Might," returned the professor dryly. "But that, Jocelyn, is where I counted exactly upon probabilities. I
not only regarded the skylight as almost inaccessible to a man trapped in the room; I also knew that no
one would choose it save as a last resort. Could you read Sartain's mind at present, you would learn that
he is regretting the fact that he did not think of the skylight as the first means of egress. He possessed
strength then; it is failing him now."

A PAUSE; then a wicked chuckle as the scientist again focused the opera glasses upon the doomed
victim. In a low voice, he explained the cause of his glee.