"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 083 - Man from Scotland Yard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Scud had been coming back from somewhere. Hawkeye had spied him slinking through the fog. One
glimpse of long, hunched shoulders and muffled face had been all that Hawkeye needed. The spotter was
still on Scud's trail.

Entering the side street that Scud had chosen, Hawkeye spied a glimmering light ahead. Fog rendered the
street lamp dingy; but Hawkeye knew that Scud could not get by that lighted patch without revealing his
stooped figure in the mist.

Close enough to have reached the street before Scud gained the light, Hawkeye knew also that the
long-limbed man must he close by. Creeping forward, The Shadow's agent advanced with caution.
Hawkeye had gained a hunch that the end of the trail was near.

Thirty yards from the corner, Hawkeye paused. Scud had not reached the street lamp. Here, on the near
side of that glow, blackness was complete. Hawkeye's eyes could spy nothing; the spotter was relying on
his ears. To his keen hearing came the sound of whispers, muffled, seemingly, by the mist.

Hawkeye reached out in the darkness. His hand encountered the fog-dewed surface of a brick wall.
Using this as a guide, Hawkeye crept ahead. The wall ended with an invisible corner. Voices became
audible. Hawkeye crouched.

Scud Paffrey was whispering to someone in the darkness. The rendezvous was being held in a passage
between two buildings, undiscernible in the overhanging blackness. Hawkeye caught the tones of a low,
half-growled voice. Detecting words, he realized the identity of the man whom Scud had met.

Detective Joe Cardona! Known as the ace of New York headquarters, this sleuth had contacts in the
underworld.

TO Hawkeye, the presence of Cardona indicated an astonishing fact. Scud Paffrey, accepted as an
average denizen of the underworld, was a stool pigeon, reporting to the law.

The Shadow must have known that fact. That was why he had put Hawkeye on the job of watching
Scud. The law was after information; Scud had access to it. The Shadow had decided to use Scud as a
lead.

Hawkeye grinned to himself in the darkness. He had been late in trailing Scud; hence he had not learned
the stoolie's objective. Here, however, lay opportunity. What Scud was telling Joe Cardona, Hawkeye
could also hear. The little man listened.

"No trace of any of them, eh?" came Cardona's growl. "Looks like you're laying down on the job, Scud.
You told me you'd find Rigger Luxley. But you haven't got a trace on him or any of his pals."

"I told you about Sailor Martz," insisted Scud, his whisper half a whine. "He's due down at Dory Halbit's
joint. Back from the fruit pier. He's comin' there tonight, Joe."

"What of it? That don't tell us anything about Rigger. He wouldn't be there."

"But Sailor was in with Rigger's outfit. No foolin', Joe; that's somethin' I know, for sure. An' maybe
Sailor's got some pals that was in with the mob."

"But that's something you're not sure about. Say, it looks like the dragnet is going to be the only bet, after