"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 123 - Washington Crime" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

entered. The invaders were not perturbed. Their number was too great; their
authority too strong.
The squad consisted of a dozen secret service men, headed by Vic
Marquette.
Craftily, the squad closed in. Expert hands tried doors and windows. Old
woodwork splintered dully; a window came open. Vic Marquette went through,
hoisted by a pair of husky operatives. Others joined the leader. Vic's
flashlight blinked upon the warped floor boards. It showed a wide doorway,
opening into a room that had once been a parlor.
Soon, an electric lantern gleamed through that square-walled room. It
showed a scene of complete desertion. Though Vic stood in the very room where
The Shadow had been overpowered, there was not a clue to show that the parlor
had been occupied in years. Curtains had been removed with furniture. Even the
embers and ashes were gone from the fireplace.
Vic Marquette considered the facts as he saw them. Some one had
telephoned
Senator Releston, posing as Agent F-3. The purpose had been to get a lead to
The
Shadow. Somehow, the poser had learned of Lamont Cranston, and had tried to
assassinate The Shadow's friend.
Circumstances showed that the attempt had been unsuccessful. Therefore,
Marquette pictured Cranston safely on his way to New York to contact The
Shadow.
This deserted house, in Vic's opinion, was merely a blind. It had not
even
been visited by the fake Agent F-3, and probably would not be. Nevertheless,
Marquette decided to leave a pair of operatives on duty. The Shadow, should he
come here, would recognize that they were government men.
Marquette was convinced that the man who had telephoned Releston, calling
himself F-3, was the actual thief of the National Emergency Code. That,
however, furnished no enlightenment. Marquette had already rejected Bryland as
the possible thief. Hence Marquette was doubly led astray. Not only was he
wrong about Bryland, he did not even suspect the presence of Hugo Creelon in
Washington.
Added to that was Vic's complete ignorance regarding the capture of The
Shadow. It was Vic's belief that The Shadow would soon be heard from. He was
counting on the master-sleuth to furnish clues to the missing code. Thus the
secret service was at a standstill. There would not even be a move to rescue
The Shadow, since his plight was unknown.
When Vic Marquette left the house on H Street, he saw a passing sedan
roll
by. It looked like any car that might have been traveling Washington street.
Marquette did not know that sparkling eyes had viewed him from the car window.
Nor did Marquette hear the low, insidious chuckle from the straight lips of
the
man who saw him.
The occupant of that sedan was Hugo Creelon.
Through with the house on H Street, the master-spy had ridden by to check
on the arrival of the government men. Creelon was satisfied that the secret
service had learned nothing. He was confident, too, that no suspicion rested