"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 030 - The Death Giver" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

As Cardona swung and faced the parking lot, he saw a pair of men engaged in conversation. One was at
the wheel of a roadster; the other was alongside. Both were detectives, studying the situation as it existed
there.

Another car drove up while Cardona watched. It was an old sedan, and the driver parked it in the ample
space, drawing it alongside the other cars which rested parallel with the railroad track. A nervous
commuter hurried from the car and walked rapidly toward the platform.

This man, Cardona decided, would be about the last to catch the train. These electrics ran close to
schedule, and less than a minute remained.

The commuter was a well-dressed individualтАФa man of middle age, with trim Vandyke beard and broad
fedora hat.

His face lightened as he saw the waiting crowd. The man appeared to be relieved because he was in time
for the train. Joe Cardona laughed softly. A great worryтАФthat of making the eight thirty-eight! Probably
all that concerned these commuters in the morning!

Cardona turned his eyes toward the curve. He was just in time. A train of red cars was sliding into view,
approaching with the stealthy speed typical of electric locomotion.

Cardona counted eight cars as each one swung around the bend; the rails were clicking, and the train
was coming to a sharp stop. The fake trackwalker was swinging his arms in a signal that nothing had
occurred.

Cardona, quickly noting the train, and then observing the commuters as they stepped aboard, could
testify that nothing was amiss here. The detective glanced toward the parking lot. The two men at the
roadster indicated that all was well in their field of observation.

Cardona grunted. He had hoped that something would happen at this station тАФsome unusual incident
that would serve as a clew to the strange accidents of the two preceding days. He watched the train,
anxious for it to start so that he could observe what happened after the departure and get the report from
the man waiting beyond. The train, however, did not start.

THE uniformed conductor, his face bewildered, came from one of the vestibules. With him was a man
whom Cardona recognized instantlyтАФ Detective Sergeant Mayhew.

This police officer had been stationed on the third car of the trainтАФthe car in which both deaths had
occurred. Mayhew's face was excited. It became even more so when the detective sergeant spied
Cardona. Mayhew beckoned wildly. Cardona hurried forward.

Mayhew stopped Cardona and pointed to an open window in the car. Staring in astonishment, Cardona
saw the form of a man slumped in the seat by the window. The upturned face was ghastly. It was scarred
and puckered with red marks. The eyes were bulging.

The man was dead.

"I was looking back through the car," explained Mayhew. "I wasn't expecting anything like this to
happen. Just watching for whatever might be unusual. ThenтАФI saw him here. It must have gotten him just