"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 056 - The Crime Crypt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

regarding the affairs of a certain international crook who is known as Duke Larrin -"

With a furious cry of interruption, Martin Havelock was on his feet. His spring toward Cecil Armsbury
was stopped only by the old man's quick action. Like a flash, Armsbury brought out his revolver and
pointed it at his leaping nephew. Havelock halted six feet from the old man's chair.

CECIL ARMSBURY cackled. He seemed to enjoy this turn of affairs. Martin Havelock, seeing the
threat in his uncle's eyes, retreated to his chair.
"Duke Larrin," announced Cecil Armsbury. "That is the name you have been using. You are Duke Larrin
- smooth crook who has worked in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, along the Riviera.

"Like most men who have turned to crime, you have spent all that you have made. Europe is no longer
open to you. But you remembered that your old self - Martin Havelock - had an uncle. You thought that
you might be my heir. You came to find out.

"Thirty thousand dollars! Bah! A paltry sum for a crook like Duke Larrin. I lost my respect for you when
I saw you, as a vulture, hovering by to wait for me to die. That is why I put you to the test - to see if you
would deal in murder."

Martin Havelock stared as he heard these words. A new expression had appeared upon his uncle's face
- a look that showed a strange approval. Before the young man could voice a question, Cecil Armsbury
spoke again.

"You were my heir," declared the old man. "Thirty thousand dollars would some day have been yours -
had you balked at the chance to murder me and lay the blame on someone else.

"But you made good in the test. You showed that murder was in your category of crime. You are my heir
no longer, Martin. You will be my partner - an equal sharer in a sum that will exceed a million dollars!"

Armsbury's face was gleaming. Martin Havelock wondered if his uncle had gone insane. The cunning
look on the old man's face might be that of a maniac; on the contrary, it showed amazing craft.

"To kill me, Martin," resumed the old man, with a cackle, "would be folly. Your crime would rest upon
you. Whatever you might reap would be lost. There are reasons. But to become my partner - ah, there
lies opportunity.

"I have been awaiting your arrival from Mexico ever since I gained this information." The old man tapped
his envelope with his revolver. "For I had need of a partner of Duke Larrin's caliber. I merely required a
test of your nerve."

With a gesture of new friendship, the old man placed both revolver and envelope upon the table. Each
had been a threat - one of death; the other of exposure. Martin Havelock, however, ignored them. His
uncle smiled approvingly.

"You are with me, Martin," he stated.

"For half a million?" The young man laughed. "Sure thing. How did you find out that I was Duke Larrin?"

"A friend who went to Mexico discovered that you were not living there. I thought, perhaps, that crime
was in your blood. The friend learned that you had been in three European capitals. Through another