"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 260 - The Money Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

office as trophies for the police. Bert could then identify the drab-faced clerk and strengthen himself still
further with the law. For, by Bert's calculation, Cardona's squad would arrive several minutes too late to
contact Shep's mob.

The person who upset Bert's calculation was the bartender.

"Funny thing," remarked the bartender. "I been watching them windows steady. Seems like the guys are
doing a routine."

Bert edged his derby to gain a better look. He saw a figure shift across the lowered window shades.
Another followed, paused, then turned back. After a short interval, a third figure appeared briefly at the
shade edge.

"Looks all right to me," grunted Bert. "Nothing very funny."

"Keep watching," suggested the barkeep. "They'll move different for about three minutes, then they start
the same act. It's like ducks showing up on a shooting gallery."

After three minutes, Bert's eyes narrowed. He slammed his glass down on the bar. The bartender was
right!

"Say it is phony!" snapped Bert. "Those guys must have rigged a gag to fool us. They've lammed right
while we were watching!"

Shoving a hand to his gun pocket, Bert started toward the door, then caught himself. Fake or not, he
couldn't do a thing about it. Bert's present business was to build an alibi to cover Emmart's death. Letting
his gun slide back into his pocket, he returned to the bar.

Turned away from the street, he didn't see the cab that was stopping across the way, well short of the
Apex office address. Bert had no reason to watch the street. He'd told Shep to use the back way when
he raided the discount office.

"Maybe they've pulled a fast one," admitted Bert, "but they could be trying something else. Some hoax to
trap a fellow like me. I'd be a sap to mooch over there alone."

"It's gone different now," remarked the bartender. "There come some different shadows into it. Fellows
with caps."

Bert wheeled and saw the change. Odd silhouettes, those; huge as they appeared, then dwindling rapidly
as they grew blacker on the window shades. They were blotting out the others and Bert realized why.
These were Shep's men, moving in from the rear office. They must have found a tricky set-up that Bert
could actually picture.

Large silhouettes that dwindled meant that solid figures had moved into the beam of a projector that was
putting on a magic-lantern show. Bert Cowder was muttering in his beer, wondering what Shep Ficklin
would have to say about the hoax, when the bartender exclaimed:

"Say, the thing has gone spooky! Look at that new shadow moving in! A guy with a face like a hawk and
mitts with a couple of guns sticking out. The size of them gatsтАФ"