"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 044 - Treasures of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

form that watched them from a spot beside the obscure steps.

"Then there's no story," remarked Clyde sourly. "No homicide-no proven theft-nothing but a sudden but
expected death of an old man who had not long to live."

"You've guessed it," returned Cardona.

"I came out for a front-page story," added Clyde. "Instead, I found an item for the obit column."

The two moved away. Silence followed their departure. Nothing stirred along this street where hidden
watchers had seen Terry Barliss arrive at his uncle's home. Then came motion. A portion of blackness
seemed to detach itself from the wall beside the steps.

A vague creature of the night, The Shadow flitted from the scene. Patches of moving darkness on the
sidewalk were the only tokens of his presence, until the eerie master of the night neared the end of the
street.

Then, through blackness, came a strange, whispered cry. A sinister laugh shuddered forth a sardonic
message. Its weird sound broke and was followed by gibing echoes. There was significance in that
amazing mockery.

The Shadow had come as an unseen visitor. Where Joe Cardona and Clyde Burke had found no trace of
either homicide or theft, The Shadow had detected possibilities of both.

The Shadow knew!
 CHAPTER III. FROM THE SANCTUM
BRIGHT lights cast a strange glow throughout a remarkable room. Glistening reflections came from
polished walls. The place was a laboratory, yet it differed from any other in existence.

Instead of white-tiled fittings, this room was furnished entirely in black. Walls, ceiling, and floor, like
tables, benches and other equipment, were all of sable hue. It was a fitting atmosphere for the strange
being who occupied it.

The Shadow was in his laboratory. Clad in his cloak and hat of somber black, he was practically invisible
as he worked. His garb did not reflect the light as did the walls. Hence The Shadow formed a weird,
incongruous shape as he moved about.

Black against black: absorbing surface against that which reflected. Such was The Shadow's presence.
Long arms and gloved hands were like shadows of The Shadow!

One spot of whiteness was present. It was no more than a tiny speck. The capsule that The Shadow had
brought from a dead man's bedroom showed between gloved thumb and forefinger.

With test tubes and bottles, The Shadow began his analysis. The capsule opened; its whitish powder
poured upon a small black patch of paper. The test continued. Its completion brought a soft murmur of
mockery from the hidden lips of The Shadow.

The laboratory lights went out. A cloak swished in darkness. A short while later, another light appeared
in a second somber room. A switch clicked; a bluish glare was focused downward upon the polished
surface of a table.