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

Schuyler Harlew was dead, his body contorted, his hands and arms in a peculiar twist. The yellow paper,
Harlew's message to The Shadow, still rested on the desk. Beyond it was the little clock which had
played so great a part in Harlew's hopes and fears.

The little timepiece ticked on and on, the only object that seemed alive within this room of death.
Schuyler Harlew had set it only a few days before. He had supposed then that its time was accurate.
In that supposition he had been wrong. Thus had his actions been guided by a false belief. The booming
tones of the distant chime had tolled the solemn truth.

The little clock on Schuyler Harlew's desk was seventy seconds fast!

CHAPTER II. MURDER DISCOVERED
IT was early the next evening. At headquarters, Detective Joe Cardona was seated alone at a desk.
Cardona, known as an ace detective, was at present in a special capacity. He was Acting Inspector
Cardona, serving in place of Inspector Timothy Klein, who was confined to his home by illness.

There was one thing which both rankled and pleased Cardona. Since Inspector Klein had gained a state
of convalescence, it was Joe's duty to report constantly to his superior. The acting inspector had no
reason to resent this condition that had been imposed upon him; indeed, Cardona would have willingly
kept Klein informed of the details which took place at police headquarters.

But Cardona had a hunch that Police Commissioner Ralph Weston, through visits to Inspector Klein,
was keeping tabs on what Cardona was doing. This was why Cardona felt uneasy. He knew that he
rated high with Weston; at the same time, he felt an inferiority complex so far as the commissioner was
concerned.

WestonтАФto use Cardona's own mental phraseologyтАФhad the "Indian sign" on the star detective. A
keen, dynamic sort of man, the police commissioner had more than once expressed the opinion that
Cardona relied too much on hunches. So far as Weston was concerned, Cardona preferred to let him
judge by results rather than by actual observation of Cardona's working methods.

The tingle of the telephone bell presaged something important. Cardona lifted the receiver, grunted a
hello, and began to make notations on a slip of paper as he listened. His hieroglyphics recorded,
Cardona hung up the receiver. He waited a few minutes, then, with a grim look, went back to the
telephone and called Inspector Klein.

"Just got a call from Mowry's precinct," informed Cardona. "Murder up there. Man dead in a rooming
house in the Bronx. Told them to hold everything until I got up there."

"Unusual circumstances?" queried Klein's voice.

"Yeah," returned Cardona. "Guy stabbed in the back; third-floor front room. No way anybody could
have got into the place, and out again. Besides that -"

Cardona paused thoughtfully. Klein's voice came promptly over the wire.

"Well," added Acting Inspector Cardona, "the guy left a note. I want to see it. May be something
important. It's addressed to The Shadow -"