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

chance to dispute it."

"When Joe Cardona hits a lucky streak," commented Clyde, "he doesn't have to crack a case. It just
splits itself wide open for him!"

Both were surprised when Cranston shook his head in disagreement.

"This case is too pat," he analyzed calmly. "Besides, there are points that dispute each other. Take, for
instance, the hoaxing of Orvill, the disposal of the gun, and Laverock's rapid getaway. All those indicate
thorough premeditation."

There were nods from Harry and Clyde. Cranston promptly ended them.

"With all so smoothly planned," continued Cranston, "Laverock proceeded to commit two grievous
blunders. First, he left incriminating correspondence in his filing cabinet. Second, and far worse, he forgot
the permit that proved the death gun to be his own. I can assure you" - Cranston's lips wore a smile -
"that the bullet in Orvill's body will prove to be one from Laverock's gun, which will be just another
reason to suspect another hand."

The listening agents began to grasp The Shadow's logic. It did look as though Laverock's stupidity was
far too great for a man who had plotted a crime intelligently. Both Harry and Clyde were trying to find
some solid fact, for a beginning, so their chief supplied one.
"We must give Cardona credit," declared Cranston, with another smile. "He expects Laverock to return
to his office. So do I. Even an innocent man wouldn't want the police to find the evidence that was lying
there."

Dinner finished, Cranston led the way to the side door of the hotel. He stopped before they reached the
revolving door and pointed to two opposite spaces, one on each side. Those were solid doors that could
be used when the revolving door was out of order.

At present, they were loosely barred, and formed small, dark pockets. Cranston motioned Harry into
one and Clyde into the other. When they were nicely tucked away, he went out through the revolving
door.

Neither agent saw him reappear. Cranston had been carrying a cloak across his arm, a slouch hat
beneath it. He'd put them on during the trip through the revolving door; hence he emerged as The
Shadow.

In the dim light beneath the marquee, his cloaked shape escaped the eye. But Harry heard his chief's
whisper, when The Shadow stopped near the narrow barrier beside the revolving door. The Shadow
was asking Harry how far the little door could open.

"A couple of inches," Harry reported. "Enough so I can look across the street."

Receiving a similar report from Clyde, on the other side of the central door, The Shadow told both
agents to watch the Galba Building. Should they see anyone enter it, they were to call Laverock's office,
for that was to be The Shadow's next destination.

Therewith, The Shadow glided across the street, so elusively that Harry and Clyde caught only a fleeting
glimpse of fading blackness.