"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 269 - The Golden Doom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

the chairs and furniture.

Bartley saw that his bonds had been loosened slightly. In his lap lay a sharp-bladed knife, left there by
two unknown captors.

He was able to free himself fairly quickly. He glanced at his watch. He had been unconscious about an
hour.
A quick tour through Nugent's house showed it to be empty of any sign of a clue to the identity of the
unknown extortioner or his assistant.

Bartley walked dazedly down the front stoop to Central Park West. His car was still at the curb where
he had parked it.

The threat against Dr. Sutton frightened him. But the thought of notifying the police frightened him even
more. He could almost see the black headlines in the newspapers. The hospital would swarm with cops
and reporters. Perhaps Lamont Cranston and Peter Verne and Dwight Nugent would cancel their
promised donations.

Bartley groaned. He drove slowly back toward the hospital.

THE two men in the dark sedan talked in low tones - as if they were afraid the man in the back might
overhear them.

There was small chance of that. The man in the back was unconscious. He had been given a dose of
knockout drops.

"Are you sure this is the spot to dump him?"

"Yes. The areaway is not too dark. Somebody is sure to discover him in the next few minutes. And then"
- there was a brief chuckle - "an ambulance will arrive from Mercy Hospital to pick up our drugged
friend."

"Just so long as it's Mercy Hospital!" the other man said.

His hat was pulled low on his forehead. He was the fake butler who had slugged Hanson Bartley. The
icy-voiced man was his boss.

"The ambulance will have to come from Mercy Hospital," the boss continued. "I took the trouble to map
the entire district served by the hospital. The ambulance call will make things simpler for me to get back."

Both men laughed. The boss had sneaked out of the hospital by sliding down a rope from an unwatched
window. The return by rope would be too tough a climb. The ambulance call would take care of that. It
would permit a cunning criminal to reenter the hospital through the deserted ambulance courtyard.

It was vital for him to do this unseen. He was known at the hospital. He was supposed to be at the
hospital now. Anyone who saw him sneaking in would be sure to recognize him.

His henchman was still worried.

"What about the drugged guy?" he whispered. "He'll remember me the minute he comes to. He'll tell the