"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 166 - Crime Rides The Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Ozark.
Again in the present, he was staring at a stack of empty packing cases on
the pier. The boxes formed an angle from a large post that supported the pier
shed, and against that dull background, Harry fancied that he saw a
silhouetted
figure. For a full minute, he watched, expecting some motion from the spot.
None
came.
Harry decided that his imagination had tricked him. In thinking of The
Shadow, Harry almost believed that he had seen his mysterious chief.
Footsteps pounded the gangplank, drawing Harry's eyes forward along the
freighter's side. A ship's officer was coming on board; he glanced upward as
he
reached the gangway. That was when Harry noted the fellow's sallow face and
recognized it. The man was Robert Pell, the third officer, and he had shown
that suspicious-eyed attitude from the time that Harry had first met him.
Perhaps Pell was by nature nervous and overwatchful; but his actions had
aroused Harry's mistrust. Trouble was due aboard the Ozark; otherwise, The
Shadow would not have ordered Harry to take passage on the ship. If Harry's
guess was correct, when trouble struck, Pell would be deep in it.


THERE were lighter footsteps from the gangplank. This time, Harry saw the
last of the arriving passengers, a girl who had just started to board the
ship.
Harry knew her name, for he had seen the passenger list. She was Ruth Eldrey,
from Chicago, but that listing had given Harry no idea regarding her
appearance.
He was hoping that the girl would look up before she reached the gangway.
She did, when she had only a few steps to go. Peering over the rail, Harry
caught a quick impression of an attractive face, with bright eyes topped by
thin-streaked eyebrows that matched the girl's wealth of jet-black hair.
Unless her make-up was deceptive, Harry was willing to concede that Ruth
Eldrey was one of the most attractive brunettes that he had ever seen. But
with
that concession, he wondered why a girl of her charm had chosen a lone voyage
on
so unattractive a ship as the Ozark.
This was not the time to consider that question. A heavy rumble from the
pier announced an event that Harry had anxiously anticipated. He turned to see
an armored truck roll up beside the Ozark, flanked by four motorcycle police.
Dismounting, the officers stood with hands upon revolver hilts, while the rear
of the truck was opened.
Moving on special rollers, a massive strong box was warped slowly into
sight. The thing almost filled the truck, and Harry estimated that it measured
close to six feet in each dimension.
The front of the giant steel cube was formed by two large doors, with
interior hinges that could not be reached. The doors had a large combination
lock that would have suited a bank vault; and for added protection, it was
girded with chains clamped by heavy padlocks.