"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 117 - Vengeance Is Mine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

light. Though the glow could be noticed from the windows of other rooms, no
outsider could possibly have glimpsed The Shadow.
In one corner of the living room was a door that looked like a possible
exit. The Shadow examined it, found it fitted with a heavy latch. Opening the
door, he saw an entrance to a steep stairway that turned at a landing, a dozen
feet below. The stairway was a fire exit, that could be reached either from
this apartment or the one that adjoined it. Familiar with this type of exit,
The Shadow knew that there would be a heavy, latched door at the bottom of the
stairway.
This type of exit was always ready for people who lived in the
apartments;
but the door below could not be opened, except with the janitor's master key.
Thus the exit was as completely barred as the front doors of the apartments.


CLOSING the fire exit door, The Shadow began an inspection of Zanwood's
living room. There was a writing desk in a corner; two of the drawers were
locked, but scratches on the mahogany surface indicated that someone had
worked
with different keys to open them.
The Shadow picked the locks with ease. Inside the drawers he found stacks
of papers in disarray. One space gave proof that a small batch had been
removed. If any documents pertaining to Zanwood's past had been here, they
were
gone.
There was a chance that a searcher had overlooked something important;
nevertheless, The Shadow preferred to inspect elsewhere before returning to
this field that had been previously searched. He went to a table in a corner,
found its drawer empty. A bookcase was likewise barren of results, even though
The Shadow was complete in his quick search.
Straight across the living room from the fire exit was a square-shaped
cabinet mounted on a pedestal. It served a double purpose. It was a humidor
wherein Zanwood evidently kept his tobacco and cigars. It was also a stand for
the telephone that rested upon it. There was a chair and reading lamp close
by.
Evidently, Zanwood's favorite spot was close beside the square-shaped humidor.
Stooping beside the stand, The Shadow observed that it had no lock;
merely
a small knob that controlled a catch to keep the door shut. There were faint
scratches, though, beside that knob; they were much like the marks on the
locks
of the desk drawers. Only The Shadow would have observed that oddity. It
impressed him particularly, for here there was no lock to pick.
Instead of opening the foot-square door, The Shadow lifted the telephone
from the top of the humidor stand. He wedged a thin piece of bladelike steel
between the sides of the stand and the top. Careful prying enabled him to
loosen the top of the stand. He lifted it away, to find a copper lining
riveted
beneath.
The Shadow made short work of the rivets. Lifting away the top section of