"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 250 - Death About Town" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Setting the grating back in place, he glided across the street and blended with the revolving door that led
into the Hotel Bayberry. That was the last appearance of The Shadow upon this eventful evening - if it
could be termed an appearance at all.

Five minutes later, Lamont Cranston strolled from the side door of the Bayberry, accompanied by Harry
Vincent and Clyde Burke. Cranston waved for a cab, and Shrevvy's arrived from the next corner. As the
three passengers entered the cab, they gazed curiously from the window at two detectives, who were
climbing out of a grating alongside the Galba Building.

Already puzzled, the detectives were baffled further by the vague, trailing laugh that reached them after
the cab had swung the corner. They didn't connect it with the cab; the tone was too elusive for its source
to be traced.

To the men who heard it, that mirth came from the thin air into which The Shadow had so mysteriously
vanished!

CHAPTER V. AT THE AVENUE CLUB
IT was another evening, and the police were still hunting for James Laverock. So was The Shadow,
although he was making no visible effort in that direction. At present, The Shadow preferred to be
Lamont Cranston, for it gave him the scope he needed. As a member of the Avenue Club, Cranston was
seeking clues to the death of Dana Orvill as the surest way to gain new contact with James Laverock.

The conference of the other evening, in Laverock's office, had been all too brief. The Shadow had
learned two points: first, that Laverock was staying at a friend's apartment; second, that Laverock
especially trusted a certain member of the Avenue Club other than Rudolph Delmot, the man whom
everybody trusted.

Whether those two friends were the same, Laverock had not specified. Until The Shadow found out who
one, or both, might be, it was impossible to reach Laverock at the place where he had gone.

As Cranston, The Shadow didn't seem to be bothering much about his problem. He was more interested
in pointing out the merits of the Avenue Club to a friend named Harry Vincent, who had a guest card and
who seemed very anxious to become an active member. After all, the Avenue Club offered many
advantages.

The lavish foyer, the club library, the dining room, its spacious lounges and its billiard room were merely
the surface evidences of prosperity. Across the foyer were elevators that led to the upper floors, and
those floors consisted of hotel rooms that members could occupy at surprisingly low rates.

On the top floor was one of the finest gymnasiums in Manhattan, equipped with everything from fencing
rooms to squash courts. The only thing lacking on the gym floor was a swimming pool, and there was one
of those in the basement, so the Avenue Club, from an athletic standpoint, was absolutely complete.

The personnel also rated highly. During a trip to the gymnasium, Cranston introduced Harry to the
physical director, a chunky, affable man named Tom Rydal, who had done wonders with his job. Rydal
had formerly owned his own gymnasium and had trained many boxers, until the Avenue Club had made
him a better offer, to become its physical director.

As he showed the visitors about the gym, Rydal gave a pleased grin.