"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 268 - Murder Lake" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"It will always be Morgan and Endorf," spoke the blunt-faced man in a softened tone. "It's been three
months since Tobias left on his vacation and never returned. But his name will live on."

"Then you think he is dead?"

Endorf swung abruptly at Cranston's calm question. On the way around he plucked his cigar from the ash
tray and was raising it defensively before his eyes met Cranston's. Snapping into his blunt self, Endorf
declared:

"We may know before today is over. The police are bringing in Shep Kroot, a local malefactor who
disappeared about the same time Morgan did. Shep hasn't talked yet but he will. However, I take it that
you know all this, otherwise you wouldn't be in town."

"Quite right," Cranston agreed. "I happened to be driving through with a friend when I heard the news. I
was interested in learning what happened to Morgan."

"You mean that unsolved crimes intrigue you?"

"They interest a friend of mine," returned Cranston with a slight smile. "I refer to Ralph Weston, the New
York police commissioner. He would never forgive me if he learned that I stopped in Dalebury and failed
to hear the police quiz Shep Kroot."

There was an interruption as a secretary entered. It gave Cranston a chance to study Endorf when the
man was off guard, which was a distinct advantage. So far both had been covering something, each in his
own particular way.

Cranston, for one, was covering the fact that he was interested in mysterious disappearances like that of
Tobias Morgan. He had been making the rounds looking into such cases, but without result until today.
The trouble in all those instances was that the person who could have profited most had likewise left
town.

Not so in the Morgan case. The man who had gained in a big way by Morgan's disappearance was his
partner, Hubert Endorf. If Morgan's disappearance was the result of murder, Endorf rated as suspect
No. 1 in Cranston's estimation. Through sheer complacency, Cranston had concealed that thought from
Endorf, but the latter had not done as well.

In his blunt treatment of his visitor, Endorf had shown all too plainly that the Morgan mystery was a sore
subject. Not only that, his reference to the disappearance as an "unsolved crime" was very much a
challenge. It looked as though Endorf had decided to throw the case into that category before someone
else did. He was working on the theory that the best defense was an offense.

FINISHING some detail matters, the secretary paused, about to leave the room, and said to Endorf:

"There's a man outside, sir, who says he's a detective. When I asked if it had to do with Mr. Morgan -"

"It has nothing to do with Morgan!" interrupted Endorf. "The man has come for the pay roll. Here!" -
Endorf hauled a drawer open and slammed a tin box on the desk - "give him this."

"But the pay roll isn't due, sir -"
"This is for the men at the warehouse. I hired a private detective to take it there, rather than have any of