"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 107 - The Sledge Hammer Crimes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

THE SLEDGE-HAMMER CRIMES
Maxwell Grant
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? CHAPTER I. WORD FOR THE SHADOW
? CHAPTER II. CRIME'S AFTERMATH
? CHAPTER III. DUSK BRINGS THE SHADOW
? CHAPTER IV. THE THRUST THAT FAILED
? CHAPTER V. CRIME BREAKS AGAIN
? CHAPTER VI. THE SHADOW'S VISIT
? CHAPTER VII. TRAILS LINK
? CHAPTER VIII. ANOTHER ENTRANT
? CHAPTER IX. THE SECOND THRUST
? CHAPTER X. MILLION DOLLAR MURDER
? CHAPTER XI. THE DAY'S QUEST
? CHAPTER XII. CRIME'S LINK
? CHAPTER XIII. THE MAN WHO KNEW
? CHAPTER XIV. THE VITAL HOUR
? CHAPTER XV. DEATH AFTER DEATH
? CHAPTER XVI. THE POSTPONED TRAIL
? CHAPTER XVII. CRIME DENOUNCED
? CHAPTER XVIII. THE SHADOW SUGGESTS
? CHAPTER XIX. THE MURDERER SPEAKS
? CHAPTER XX. THE MURDERER'S TOMB
CHAPTER I. WORD FOR THE SHADOW
THE Mayan Museum formed an oddity against the dusk of Manhattan's sky. Of all the structures in New
York, none was more curious than this one. Its setting, moreover, added to its bizarre appearance.

The museum was squatty and square-shaped. Constructed of white marble, it loomed from a terraced
plaza that verged an avenue where traffic was heavy and rapid. For this location was in the upper reaches
of Manhattan, well north of the broad cross-town street that marked the end of Central Park.

The flattened hill that bore the museum was like a miniature Acropolis. Below the white walled building,
beside it and in back, were crumbly, close-built houses scarcely better than tenements. The glittering
lights of the avenue offset these dilapidated structures; but behind the museum, the scene was utterly
squalid.

The rear street was on a lower level. There, on one side, the museum formed a high, barren wall. On the
other side of the street was a row of dingy brick fronts, time-worn and battered. Broken windows
outnumbered those that had panes, for most of these old houses were deserted.

The Mayan Museum was as formidable as a fortress. Its lower floor was windowless. Gratings barred
access to the narrow, slitted windows of its second floor. The bronze bars broke the monotony of the
white marble. So did the massive front door on the ground floor. It, too, was of bronze construction.

No lights glimmered from the museum. One would have classed it as an abandoned edifice. Yet the
visitor had only to ring for admittance at the front door. ThenтАФup to six o'clock in the afternoonтАФhe
would be admitted. Within, he would find a network of corridors and exhibit rooms, all well lighted.