"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 285 - Fountain of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Cranston understood and more. When Johnny put down his glass and turned away, saying that the rest of
the Claybourne family was expecting him, it meant that he'd made up his mind to something drastic. The
dip of Johnny's fingers to his vest pocket was an added clue that Cranston didn't need.

It was just the clue that Sheff and Hippo wanted, as they preserved their poker faces. Turning away from
Cranston, they said good-night to Claybourne, who promptly insisted upon seeing them to the door.
Blocked by the sudden exodus, Cranston wasn't able to follow closely on Johnny's heels, even if he'd
wanted.

Besides, Cranston was depending on Margo.
Luck, not dependability was sometimes Margo's forte. She'd almost forgotten Johnny when she came
down the grand staircase after a brief tour of the second floor.

It was Johnny's voice that captured her attention. He was at the telephone, around on the opposite side
of the great stairway, from Claybourne's smoking room.

"Hello... "Johnny's tone became subdued, but Margo was drawing close enough to hear it. "Yes, this is
Johnny... You're meeting me, of course?... Yes, right away, where we agreed... The blue gown? Of
course... If I can't admire it in the dark, we'll go where there's some light... Now hurry... Please -"

Johnny's voice was just beginning to phrase a name when Margo arrived too close. That name, the one
that Johnny claimed he had forgotten, remained unuttered. Instead, the telephone clattered on its stand
and Margo found herself staring into Johnny's face, cold and gray in the slight gloom beneath the
stairway.

"Sorry, Johnny," began Margo. "I didn't mean to snoop. I was only going to tell you -"

"Tell me what?"

It was Johnny's tone of the afternoon, dry and lacking vigor though the words themselves betokened
challenge.

"That I hadn't found her," explained Margo. "The vision in blue, if you hadn't forgotten her."

Those eyes of Johnny's were staring straight past Margo; indeed, they could have been staring through
her. Then, with a quick turn on his heel, Johnny swung through a door at the rear of the hall, giving Margo
a glimpse of a passage leading to the kitchens. As the door came clattering back, Margo turned and
looked toward the front of the reception hall, wondering what it was that Johnny saw.

It must have been Cranston.

Margo saw Lamont coming in from the front door, carrying something folded over his arm. He sensed
the meaning of Margo's expression.

"You've seen Johnny?"

"Yes." Margo gave a sweeping gesture. "He was at the telephone; now he's gone through to the
kitchen."

"He should have gone out," decided Cranston, "like the others did." Glancing toward the staircase,