"coffinfortheavenger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepperman Emile C)

The driver shrugged, looked at the crowd as if to say, "What can I do about it?" and
climbed back into his truck after moving the body of the dog over to the curb.

The crowd dispersed as he drove away, but Emma Puglese sat there, sobbing, angry and
hurt.

The truck with the seven coffins continued down Pelham Street for a block. and then
turned into Farr Street. It stopped before the undertaking establishment of Sylvester Strake
& Son, Inc.

It was rather late for a delivery, but there was a light in the undertaking parlor. And
strangely enough, a man stood in front of the door, who looked up and down the street, and
nodded swiftly to the driver of the truck.

The driver thereupon descended, and with the help of the man from the doorway he removed
one coffin from the load. Between them they carried it inside.

Now an empty coffin does not require great exertion from two strong men. Yet these two were
sweating when they set the coffin down on the floor.

The man who had been standing in the doorway glanced inquiringly at the truck driver.

"Did you have any trouble, Lambertini?"

"No," said Lambertini. "It went off like clockwork. But I'm kind of worried. The Avenger
won't lay off just on account of what we did to Crawford. It'll only make him tougher."

The other shrugged. "We can handle anything. The Avenger is only a man. Better go down
with your load and report to the boss. I'll give you a hand with the coffin and then I'll
take over the truck."

He helped Lambertini move the coffin onto a low dolly, and they rolled it into the back
room, then onto a small elevator platform.

Lambertini returned to the front, let the other man out, watched him get into the truck
and drive away, and then locked the door. He closed the Venetian blinds over the windows
and turned out the lights. Then he went back into the rear, stepped onto the elevator plat-
form beside the coffin and pressed a button.

The platform descended to the basement.


The basement was no different from that of any other undertaker's establishment, and a
minute search would have revealed nothing of a suspicious nature.

But Lambertini rolled the dolly off the platform, pushed it across to the opposite wall
and pressed a button.

Immediately, a portion of the wall began to swing slowly outward on well-oiled hinges,