"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 078 - The Third Skull" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

An overturned table, flames from the candle, a killer in flight - all these made clear sequence to The
Shadow.

With a soft laugh, the cloaked investigator struck a match and set fire to the sheet of smudged paper that
he himself had removed from the pad.

Flames died. Ashes went fluttering to the floor beside those that The Shadow had first noted. Stooping,
The Shadow compared one lot with the other. The ashes told their story. The old remnants were less, by
half, than the new.

Hildrew Parchell's message had been but partially burned. The killer had escaped with a portion of the
old man's document. He must have recognized that paper as containing information that he had come
here to obtain.

Perhaps he had gained all that he wanted. Perhaps he had not. In either event, flight could have been the
murderer's only choice. That much was obvious. What The Shadow needed was some trace to the
murderer's purpose and identity.

Crossing the room, The Shadow stopped by the filing cabinet. He opened the drawers and found them
empty. Papers and other belongings had evidently been removed since Cardona's investigation here.

The Shadow stepped to the wall safe. He found it unlocked; its interior was empty. While The Shadow's
eyes took in this fact, his ears caught a sound from below. Someone had entered the front door. Faltering
footsteps were coming up the stairs.

The Shadow moved to the darkness behind a half-opened closet door. He waited while a gray-haired
man came into the room. He knew this must be Tristram; he could see the saddened expression upon the
servant's face.

There was a choking sob. With bowed head, Tristram turned and went from the room. The servant's
grief was genuine. Moreover, The Shadow immediately understood the reason for Tristram's absence
from the house. The servant must have received an order from Weldon Wingate, telling him to bring old
Parchell's papers to the lawyer.

Silently, The Shadow glided from the room of death. His tall form descended the stairs. Crossing the
lower hall, The Shadow opened the front door and made an immediate departure. His figure blurred with
the night.

LATER, a light clicked in The Shadow's sanctum. Beneath a bluish glare, The Shadow again surveyed
the list of persons concerned with the affairs of Hildrew Parchell. One by one, he considered their parts
and their importance.
Tristram had been a loyal servant. So faithful that he would have named any one and every one whom he
might have suspected as having a part in his master's death. Nothing more could be gained from
Tristram.

Weldon Wingate was an important man to see. He could be reached openly; from him, by proper
persuasion or strategy, The Shadow could gain real facts concerning Hildrew Parchell's affairs. The
Shadow checked Wingate's name.