"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 153 - Murder For Sale" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

HARRY kept his gun from sight when he opened the door. In the hallway
stood a bellboy, who handed him a slip which stated that a package had arrived
downstairs.
"Want me to bring it up, sir?"
The bellhop's question was earnest enough. He was simply looking forward
to a tip. Slipping his gun into his pocket behind the door, Harry stepped
farther into view and told the bellboy to get the package. To hurry the
delivery, he handed him a quarter tip in advance.
There was nothing phony about the bellboy's visit. Harry had ordered a
special smoking mixture at a tobacconist's shop, with the request that it be
sent to the hotel. After shifting his gun to his hip, he drew his pipe from
his side pocket, in anticipation of the coming smoke.
It was nearly nine o'clock, the time when Harry's report was due. Harry
hadn't forgotten it, but he also remembered Isabel. That was why he stepped to
the partly opened bedroom door and whispered:
"Just a bellboy at the door, but he's bringing up a package of tobacco.
You'd better wait where you are, until after he's gone."
Isabel already trusted Harry; and she had heard enough of the
conversation between him and the bellboy to know he was telling the truth. She
remained in the inner room, which gave Harry a chance to get back to the
writing desk and code his message to The Shadow.
In that note, Harry included mention of Isabel Rendolf. To prevent the
writing from fading, he carefully folded over the upper portions of the paper.
He had an envelope at hand, ready to enclose the message as soon as he
completed it.
Concentrated on that duty, Harry failed to hear a stir that took place in
the outside corridor.
There, three men had slid in from an inside fire-tower. The center member
of their group was a chunky man, whose block-shaped face had a jaw that looked
like iron. Harry wouldn't have recognized the fellow, although he had seen him
before.
The leader of the invading trio was Whiz Birsch, the daredevil who had
wrecked Rulland's car on the bridge.
"That was a good break, the bellhop stopping here," undertoned Whiz. "You
saw him, Keezer, so beat it up to the elevator and flag him before he gets
back."
As Keezer left, Whiz gestured toward the fire-tower. Another thug came
into sight, to take Keezer's place. Again, Whiz was speaking to two pals, when
he said:
"A couple of minutes more and I'll knock, like the bellhop did. Vincent
will think the kid is back with the package."

WHIZ BIRSCH was right. When two minutes had passed, Harry heard a rap at
the door, and was sure that the bellboy had returned.
Harry had just folded the edges of the note that he had written. He
didn't even wait to tuck it into the envelope. Instead, he took a couple of
long steps and yanked the door open.
Again, Harry faced a gun muzzle, but it was more ominous than the
revolver that Isabel carried. This .38, poked from the hard fist of Whiz
Birsch, seemed to gape in front of Harry's eyes.