"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 243 - Room of Doom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

but
his went forward, instead of backward. The Shadow was returning Nevlin's
compliment. Nevlin, of course, had not known that The Shadow was against the
door; hadn't even seen the black mass that plunged into the room. But The
Shadow
saw Nevlin going out and deliberately nailed him.
The Shadow did it with a scissors kick, from the side of the door,
clipping
Nevlin's ankles. The fellow's drive became a long pitch, his hands thrusting
ahead of his body. His gun barked and the bullet went wide of Joan, as she
darted away from the stairs. Nevlin hit then, instead, and went bouncing
downward, his suitcase following after him.
Knowing that Nevlin's shot was meant for her, Joan sprang to the head of
the stairs and saw the secretary end his long spill. She thought that he was
badly hurt, so she was holding her gun lowered.
Coming slowly from his huddle, Nevlin looked helpless indeed, and Joan
was
badly deceived. So badly, that she almost spelled her own doom.
She was leaning anxiously over the top step looking at Nevlin, when he
flashed his gun upward, gave a gleeful snarl as he tugged the trigger to blast
a
shot that would bring Joan tumbling down.
Swifter than Nevlin's aim was the living hurricane that swirled from the
doorway behind Joan. It took the girl in its twist, carried her sideways from
the stairs, and sent her on a dizzy tumble into the safety of the alcove.
Joan actually thought she was somersaulting down the stairs, until her
high
heels thwacked the alcove wall. She was lying on her shoulders, her head
tilted
backward, giving her an upside-down impression of a black-blotted shape that
was
spinning back to the head of the stairway.
The echoes of Nevlin's shot were still ringing in Joan's ears, only to be
broken by a weird, defiant laugh that must have been uttered by the singular
fighter in black. Below, Nevlin heard the challenging mirth and knew that it
was
meant for him. A mad clatter told that Nevlin was taking to rapid flight.
Reaching the ground floor, Nevlin saw people coming into the reception
hall. Weston was emerging from one room, followed by Dulther and Sigby.
Cardona
was shouldering forth from the den, followed by a pair of Aldriff's servants.
Suitcase in one hand, Nevlin waved his gun with the other, gesturing back
toward the stairs as he cried:
"The Kelburn girl! Stop her! She fired those shots! She wanted to kill
me!"
The Shadow heard Nevlin's howls, but didn't think that anyone would be
foolish enough to believe the fellow's words, considering that the secretary
was
carrying a gun, himself.
Figuring that Nevlin would be chased outdoors and forced to dart around