"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 226 - The Blur" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

OUTSIDE Tex's office, two persons among the chronic gamesters were thinking of something other than
the play. One was the young man at the faro table, the other, the mustached gambler who was dealing
two hands of ecarte.

From across the faro board, the first looked toward the second, at the side table. The young man used
his cigarette holder to gesture toward the door of Tex's office. The other man returned the gesture with a
nod.

It seemed that they were both thinking in terms of Terry Radnor - and perhaps of Hector Dunvin.

Neither happened to glance toward a decorative telephone booth in the far corner of the casino. There
was a girl in the booth, a brunette, whose face was as earnest as it was attractive. She was making a call
which she regarded as very important, for her tone was breathlessly subdued.

"Hello... Is this the Cobalt Club?" The girl's expression showed relief. "I want to speak to Mr. Cranston.
Tell him that Miss Lane is calling -"

During the brief interval that followed, the girl gazed from the booth, her eyes fixed upon the door of
Tex's office. When the expected tone came across the wire, she forgot that door for the moment.

"Hello, Lamont!" Though eager, the girl remembered to subdue her voice. "This is Margo... Yes at the
Century Casino. I think that something is due... No, I haven't seen Tex, but a young man just went into
his office -

"I don't know his name, but he had an envelope and it looked important... Yes, I had a good look at him.
I'll remember his face. When he comes out, I'll find out who he is, if I can... You'll be right over? Good!"

Margo Lane wore an expression of firm confidence, when she finished that call and came from the booth.
She was always confident when she knew that Lamont Cranston was due upon a scene where trouble
brewed. For Margo was quite convinced, through experience, that Lamont Cranston was a double
personality. In his other self, Cranston was The Shadow, arch-foe of all criminals.

Important though The Shadow's coming arrival might seem to Margo Lane, there was one person whose
affairs it could even more deeply concern. That person was Terry Radnor, who had followed the
promptings of a mysterious voice without identifying its owner.

The voice had told Terry that he was going to win in a game where the odds were sure. If the voice
proved right - and it had been positive enough - Terry would win something that he did not want.

The game was one of crime. Its odds were on death!

CHAPTER II. MURDER'S TWILIGHT
TEX WINTHORP finished reading the note for the third time, and turned his square-jawed face toward
Terry Radnor. Though he tried to meet Tex's eyes directly, Terry found it difficult. He'd stared so long at
the big diamond shirt stud, that it still captured his attention.

"Who gave you this?"

Tex was referring to the note, and his sharp tone jarred Terry out of his hypnotic mood. Truthfully, Terry