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

Shadow's main lead to Laverock was still blank.

So was the bluish light, when The Shadow turned it off. A whispered laugh crept through the Stygian
depths of the blackened sanctum, announcing that The Shadow was leaving, to pursue his own
investigation. That, in turn, told that his destination would be the Avenue Club, where new clues might be
in evidence.

IN the gym at the Avenue Club, Harry Vincent was finishing a workout under the approving eye of Tom
Rydal. As Harry started toward the locker room, Rydal suggested that he stay around a while.

"We're going to have some exhibition bouts," said Rydal. "Not by club members, but by employees. I've
been letting the boys use the gym in their off hours. Some of them are very nice scrappers."

"Sorry, but I have an appointment," returned Harry. "Let me know in advance, the next time, and I'll
make it a point to be around."

In the locker room, Harry reflected on his appointment. It was to be with Cranston, and Harry hadn't a
thing to tell. As his acquaintance with the Avenue Club grew, the less likely it seemed that any of the
members could be involved in the feud that seemingly had laid between Dana Orvill and James
Laverock.

There was just one club member that Harry mistrusted, and the man was Louis Buram. The fellow
impressed Harry as an upstart, who had crashed the exclusive Avenue Club for reasons that were
definitely commercial. But Buram, in his way, had just as much at stake as Rudolph Delmot, the
much-liked gentleman who was the controlling figure in the club itself.

To both Delmot and Buram, the death of Orvill had meant a cash loss of ten thousand dollars at a time
when they were seeking to expand the funds belonging to the Avenue Club and the Allied Benefit
Association. Hence Harry, despite himself, was inclining more and more to the theory that some personal
grudge lay behind the murder of Orvill.

It looked as though some unknown person, secretly an enemy of Orvill, had committed the crime and
tossed the brunt on Laverock.

In the foyer of the Avenue Club, Clyde Burke was getting the interview that he had missed on a previous
evening. Clyde had cornered Louis Buram and was battering him with questions, that the quick man tried
to parry.

"What about the A.B.A.?" demanded Clyde. "How about its expansion program? How many more cities
are coming in on the proposition?"

Wearily, Buram shrugged. Then:

"Here is the whole story, Burke," he declared. "In order to establish a branch in any city, we must first
guarantee a given fund, enough to provide for an unexpected run of sudden deaths. Is that clear?"

Clyde nodded.

"On that account," continued Buram, "we are drawing in the reserve funds from clubs already on our lists,
so that we can establish the required minimum for each new club that subscribes to our service."