"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 052 - Crime Circus" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"Burbank speaking."

"Marsland," informed the chiseled-faced man.

"Report."

"No trace of Beef Malligan."

"Any signs of Dombo Carlin?"
"Yes. He's at the Black Ship."

"Instructions." Burbank's voice was a monotone. "Watch Dombo. He and his mob are after Beef. Learn
if they have located him."

"Instructions received."

Leaving the store, the stalwart young man wended his way through the darkness of narrow streets that
were walled with decadent buildings. Cliff Marsland, agent of The Shadow, was well acquainted with the
underworld. Cliff had a rep among mobsters. It enabled him to keep tabs on new gang movements.

Yet until tonight, Cliff had gained no lead that might enable him to locate "Beef" Malligan. Cliff knew
certain facts that Dowdy had reported to Joe Cardona, namely, that Beef was hiding out and that he was
evidently sending gorillas to "Croaker" Zinn. But the news that Beef was evading "Dombo" Carlin was
something that Cliff had learned for the first time.

Cliff reached the Black Ship. The place was a notorious dive. Cliff had left the joint earlier in the evening;
his return excited no comment, for he was known in the place. There was nothing extraordinary in the
fact that Cliff chose a table close by a corner where Dombo Carlin and three cronies were gathered.

Minutes passed while Cliff sat stolidly staring toward the wall. He could hear Dombo's growl; at times, he
glanced sidewise to observe the man's ugly, unshaven countenance. Then came a query from a gorilla that
brought Cliff to attention.

"Time we was leavin', ain't it, Dombo?"

"Not for a half hour yet," was the growled response. "It ain't far over to Clipper's."

"But we're goin' in the back -"

"Sure. That's where he is, ain't it? On the second floor? Keep your shirt on, mug. I'm running this."

"I get you, Dombo."

Cliff Marsland shoved away a bottle and glass. He arose and strolled from the Black Ship. "Clipper's," to
Cliff, meant an old hotel near The Bowery. It was called the Hotel Santiago, but mobsters called the
place "Clipper's" in honor of its hard-boiled proprietor.

Cliff had never thought of the Santiago as a potential hide-out for Beef Malligan. The crumbling hotel was
but one of many others in its vicinity. Dombo Carlin had not mentioned Beef Malligan's name, but Cliff,