"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 042 - Mox" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

sheer wall three stories to the street. Withdrawing his head, he closed the sash part way to its original
position.

He went to the desk, read the page of notes that he held, then picked up the yellow sheet upon which
Schuyler Harlew had written. Turning to Commissioner Weston, Cardona made his statement.

"This man was living here under an assumed name," he said. "He called himself David Gurgler. His real
name, according to this statement that he left, is Schuyler Harlew."

"When was he murdered?" inquired Weston.

"He had been staying here for three days," announced Cardona. "He was paid up for a week in advance.
He called down the stairs for his meals; they were brought up to him. To-day, the landlady supposed that
he had gone out for lunch. When dinner time arrived, she knocked at the door. It was locked. Harlew
did not answer.

"The landladyтАФMrs. ParsonsтАФcalled for the police. The door was opened with a pass-key. Harlew
was presumably slain last night. If this note is reliable, we can set the time at midnight."

Cardona handed the note to Weston. The commissioner, holding the paper so that Cranston could see it,
began to read. He stopped upon the second line. As Cardona had expected, an angry look appeared
upon Weston's face.

"Is this a hoax?" demanded the commissioner.

"I don't know, sir," responded Cardona. "I was informed at headquarters that the note was here on the
desk. I was just reading it when you arrived."

"Hm-m-m," commented Weston. "The Shadow. Any document that refers to an imaginary being is
worthless. If this man"тАФhe pointed to Harlew's bodyтАФ "wrote the note, he was probably in a frenzied,
irrational condition. If some one else wrote it, and placed it here, we can regard the message as a hoax."

The commissioner continued to study the yellow paper, reading it over and over with an angry glare.
Lamont Cranston, standing at Weston's elbow, had carefully perused every word. The millionaire was
studying Cardona, as the detective moved about the room.

Cardona looked at the key upon the floor, near the door. He consulted the notes which had been given
him. He knelt beside the body, and carefully examined the handle of the knife. Wrapping a handkerchief
about it, he slowly withdrew the weapon from Harlew's body, and placed it upon a sheet of paper.

THE knife was like a stiletto. It had a symmetry that was immediately apparent. The blade was rounded;
it came to a long, tapering point. The handle was cylindrical.

Detective Cardona arose from beside the body.

"The window," he said, as he turned to Weston, "is inaccessible. No one could come up that wall without
being seen. There are lights below, on the sidewalk. This key, however"тАФCardona pointed to the
floorтАФ"gives us an answer to how the murderer entered. There is no evidence whatever that the door
was locked."