"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 324 - The Black Circle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

tested it on the counter. Then, spinning the token with thumb and finger, Fred struck upon a sudden
thought. He felt certain that the brass token had fallen from the girl's gloves when she dropped them.
Therefore Fred felt equally sure that this was the "marker" which Kay claimed she had thrown away.

What could this marker mean?

It certainly meant something to Kay and the men who had been with her. What it might mean to Jim was
now the question. The less Fred asked Jim on that subject, the better; thinking in such terms, Fred
dropped the brass token in his vest pocket. But Fred still wanted the answer and while he was
wondering how he might find out, the telephone began to ring on the lunch counter beside him.

On a sudden hunch, Fred lifted the receiver and gave a "Hello" at the same time watching the door to
make sure that Jim did not return.

More peculiar than anything that had so far occurred, was the voice that spoke over the wire to Fred
Blanding.

"It is midnight," said the voice, in a slow, precise tone that emphasized each syllable. "Time is up. You
must leave at once."

Fred grunted, "I know," in a style that could have been mistaken for Jim's, or anybody else's.

"If any strangers are present," continued the voice, "check on them thoroughly and report in full
tomorrow. Unless it is urgent that you report now."

"Nothing urgent," gruffed Fred.

"State facts about the girl," spoke the voice, each word stressed in that slow style. "Was all O.K?"

"O.K."

Repeating those two letters, which the voice had said as though spelling a word and with no note of
query in its tone, Fred hung up, rather than get involved beyond his depth. Then, half-aloud, Fred said:

"Oh, Kay! That's a funny one. Oh, Kay is right. I wonder though" - Fred's fingers sought the brass token
in his pocket -"I wonder if she is all right."

He was realizing now that he might be mixed up in something which might prove not too healthy for him.
The sooner he got clear of it, the better, and the same might apply to the girl Kay. Undoubtedly, the
phone call had been meant for Jim, whose clock had now crept almost to the midnight mark, the time
he'd be getting back if he'd intended to receive the call. Fred promptly decided that his own time
shouldn't be wasted.

Without further hesitation, Fred left the Coffee Pot. He took rapid steps up to the street and looked
around to make sure Jim wasn't in sight. Crossing the street through the increasing drizzle, he reached a
doorway that showed dimly and paused there for a look back. Good judgment and bad had been tilting
in the balance, for as Fred turned, he saw Jim come from a passageway between two buildings on the
opposite side of the street. If Jim had arrived a few moments sooner, he would have seen Fred sliding for
cover; in which case, Fred's smart move would not have been smart at all.