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

The message went within an envelope. With another pen, The Shadow wrote an address: the name of
Rutledge Mann, the address a suite of offices in the Badger Building, New York City. The inscription on
the envelope was in ordinary ink. It remained after it had dried.

A hand drew the envelope from the table. The bluish light flicked off. The sanctum was in darkness.
Within enshrouding gloom, a weird laugh sounded. Echoes came as a ghoulish response. When the
sounds had died, complete silence remained.

In his sanctum, The Shadow had planned the first step in his endeavor to learn the source of hidden
crime. He was counting on the lapse of time to pave the way to successful combat. With his coded letter
as the first step, The Shadow had departed from his sanctum.

CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST STEP
DAY had dawned in Manhattan. A young man, attired in a dressing gown, was standing by a window
high in the huge Metrolite Hotel. He was a husky chap, with a firm, frank face. He seemed well contented
with life as he viewed the city beneath.

A telephone bell began to ring. Reluctantly ending his study of the great metropolis, the young man turned
back into the room and answered the call. A slow, methodical voice greeted his ear.

"Is this Mr. Harry Vincent?"

"Yes," replied the young man.

"This is the Climax Chemical Corporation," came the slow tones. "We have been waiting to discuss a
new transaction with you. How soon could you keep an appointment with our man?"

"Within an hour," returned Harry Vincent.

"Very well," was the phoned decision.

The moment that he had ended the call, Harry Vincent became active. He dressed hurriedly, in
preparation to leave the hotel. His speed indicated that he must have some important business on his
mind.
This was true; yet Harry's business did not concern either the purchase or sale of chemicals. There were
two words in the morning message that had roused him to all haste. Those were the final words that had
come over the wire: the words "our man."

A simple, natural statement, but to Harry those words were a key to what lay ahead. "Our man" meant
R. Mann. The enunciation was the same. R. Mann was Rutledge Mann, an investment broker in the
Badger Building.

Within a half hour after he had received the call, Harry was entering the Badger Building. He knew that
he was on the trail of adventure. For Harry Vincent, who posed as a gentleman of leisure at the Metrolite
Hotel, was an active agent of The Shadow.

WHEN Harry was needed, The Shadow summoned him. Frequently the call came through Rutledge
Mann, who served as a contact worker in The Shadow's service. It was natural for a man of Harry's
prosperous appearance to make occasional calls to an investment broker's office.