"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 261 - The Museum Murders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

THE MUSEUM MURDERS
Maxwell Grant
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? CHAPTER I. MANHATTAN MENACE
? CHAPTER II. THRUSTS FROM THE DARK
? CHAPTER III. BROKEN CRIME
? CHAPTER IV. THE WAYS OF THE SHADOW
? CHAPTER V. THE MAN WHO COULD BE CROOKED
? CHAPTER VI. BRAIN JOINS BRAWN
? CHAPTER VII. LOST AND FOUND
? CHAPTER VIII. THE WRONG BLUFF
? CHAPTER IX. DEATH'S TRAIL
? CHAPTER X. BLASTED BLACKNESS
? CHAPTER XI. HARRY TRIES AGAIN
? CHAPTER XII. THE WAY OF A FRIEND
? CHAPTER XIII. SHOWDOWN AT MIDNIGHT
? CHAPTER XIV. CRIME'S CROOKED TWIST
? CHAPTER XV. CRIME'S BOMBSHELL
? CHAPTER XVI. CROOKS GO ASTRAY
? CHAPTER XVII. VANISHED FOEMEN
? CHAPTER XVIII. CRIME'S SECRET
? CHAPTER XIX. THE DOUBLE MOVE
? CHAPTER XX. CROOK VERSUS CROOK
? CHAPTER XXI. DEATH'S TREASURES



CHAPTER I. MANHATTAN MENACE
LIKE a crouched monster watching for its prey, the Argyle Museum squatted in its own gloom,
surrounded by darkness that was itself a relic of departed years. No location could have been better
suited to silence and seclusion than this spot in the very midst of Manhattan.

It was the vortex in the maelstrom of the metropolis, a calm center in a perpetual storm - this brownstone
edifice once the residence of Henry Argyle. Living and dying in the days of plutocrats, Argyle had left the
ornate mansion and its surrounding grounds as a museum, not only to bear his name but to contain the
many art treasures on which he had spent much of his vast fortune.

The status of the Argyle Museum had never been quite fully established. It was open to the public, but
only during brief periods of the day. This enabled it to go tax-free under the head of a public institution,
but its destinies were controlled by a board of private directors, as ordained by Henry Argyle.

Men of wealth, all these, who cherished the memory of Henry Argyle and kept close watch upon the
preserves over which they had been appointed guardians. In actuality, the museum was a fortress,
policed by well-trained hirelings, a stronghold that no men of crime had ever dared invade.

Yet this was to be moving night for the Argyle Museum!