"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 160 - Vanished Treasure" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

no relief. He guessed that Croak would be on instant call, if Itch needed him.
That guess was wrong. Curiously, the trouble due upon these premises was
to be encountered by Croak, not Marcus.


FIRST inkling of such trouble came to Croak the moment that he stepped
into the anteroom. Barely past the door, the bodyguard closed it, edged back
into the deep doorway. He could hear the slight sound of the elevator; it
seemed to be sneaking upward from the ground floor.
That was enough to rouse Croak's suspicion, for none of the regular
operators could handle the jerky car with such skill. As Croak watched, the
elevator came into view behind the openwork door of the shaft. There, again,
was cause for vigil. The elevator was dark!
Croak saw the operator by the light of the anteroom. He observed that the
man was wearing a uniform like the usual operator; but his face was turned
away. From his build, Croak decided that he wasn't the regular man who
belonged
on this shift. Croak watched while the grilled door eased open.
From the blackness of the elevator emerged a second shape - a cloaked
figure, with head topped by a slouch hat. Mere sight of that intruder brought
a
fierce intake of Croak's breath.
The Shadow!
As quick-witted as he was stealthy, Croak pictured the entire setup. The
Shadow, master foe and battler of crime, had come to pry into the affairs of
Itch Fendel. To make certain of his entry here, The Shadow had planted one of
his agents in the elevator, as temporary operator.
That accounted for The Shadow's entrance to the apartment-hotel itself.
There was a side corridor on the ground floor; the fake elevator man must have
unlocked the big door that blocked it. Probably The Shadow had trailed Marcus
Beld here, and had decided the time was ripe for a visit of his own.
The time was riper than The Shadow supposed. That thought brought a
savage
grin to Croak's blocky features, as the bodyguard eased a .38 from his hip
pocket. Croak was getting set to top off his reputation as a killer, by
delivering death to The Shadow!
From his vantage spot, Croak had perfect opportunity for such a deed;
recognizing that, he made an error. He expected The Shadow to approach the
deep-set doorway; so Croak paused, preferring to cut loose with close-range
fire. The killer hadn't reckoned with The Shadow's strategy. Even when enemies
seemed absent, The Shadow used deft tactics.
Scarcely out of the elevator, the black-cloaked intruder showed a sudden
twist of speed. Instead of coming toward the recessed doorway, he wheeled
across the anteroom, to reach the wall beside the door. He was out of range
before Croak could aim.
The killer tightened his gun grip. He'd show The Shadow some smooth work
of his own, before the cloaked foeman knew that Croak was on hand. Holding
back
until the proper moment, Croak took a sudden, silent step from the doorway,
and