"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 320 - Reign of Terror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

was balm to his ego. He loved it, gloried in it.

He sat down and took out his inevitable pad and pencil. He said to the headwaiter, "What's new,
Charles?"

"Is there ever anything you don't know, Mr. Teller?"

"Umm... there might be."

"You know about Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson?" the headwaiter asked behind his hand.

"He's going with that gal from Chicago and she's going with a boy from the Coast. Mrs. Jefferson has
bought her plane tickets to Reno," Teller said.

"That's what I mean sir. I just heard it from the ladies' room attendant not ten minutes ago."

"She called me twelve minutes ago," Waldo Teller said, smiling.

The headwaiter tried again. But he had no gossip that Teller didn't already know about. What's more,
Teller knew more about it.

The headwaiter said, "How you get it all beats me." He turned to leave.

Teller said, "Charles."

The headwaiter turned, "Sir?"

"You've been dabbling in the market," Teller said didactically.
The headwaiter looked surprised.

"Get out tomorrow. First thing. There's going to be a slump. Either get out or sell short. Don't pass it
around."

The headwaiter's thanks were so fulsome, that they would have nauseated a weaker stomach than
Teller's. He enjoyed every second of it.

When Teller was alone he sat with his drink in front of him and eyed the group in the club. He ran his
eyes around. Each person he saw he knew something about.

Something that they did not want the world to know. Sometimes he printed the items he had, sometimes
he used the knowledge as a lever to pry other pieces of information from the people.

Sure it was blackmail, he thought, but it worked like a charm. It was astounding how people would rat
on each other to try and protect their own reputations.

He sipped his drink. He had one huge bomb to drop and then his own skirts would be perfectly clean.
He smiled as he drained the glass. What a stink that was going to make! If he could have avoided the
showdown he would have. But... if it had to be, and he thought it did to protect himself... well...

This way, with the 'boys' taken care of, he, Teller, would be free and clear. With that out of the way, the