"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 064 - The Death Sleep" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

emerged. A cloak slid downward over shoulders. A slouch hat settled on a head. Black gloves were
drawn on limber fingers.

When the limousine came to a stop, the rear door opened simultaneously. A blackened form glided free
of the car. The door closed silently. The emerging figure blended with the darkness of an old house front.
Stanley remained stolid behind the wheel. He would wait here until he received new instructions.

STANLEY had not heard the sound of his master's departure. That was not unusual. For Lamont
Cranston had become The Shadow. From a leisurely, almost indolent club man, he had transformed
himself to a quick, alert being of semi-invisibility. Blending with the night, The Shadow had fared forth to
learn of the events that had brought Joe Cardona and Wainwright Barth to the Vanderpool Apartments.

Unseen - his very identity unknown - The Shadow was a master who battled crime. Through contact
with the underworld, he learned when evil was brewing. Frequently, his thrusts from the dark came
before crooks had gained opportunity to begin their nefarious operations. There were times, however,
when strange events occurred without The Shadow's ken. On such occasions, The Shadow was forced
to follow the initial lead of the police.

Tonight, Joe Cardona had encountered a most amazing mystery. The acting inspector had notified
Commissioner Wainwright Barth. Only by minutes had The Shadow missed learning of the mystery.
Barth had left the Cobalt Club just before his arrival. But in the meantime, Clyde Burke, alert reporter of
the New York Classic, had discovered that Cardona had set out on an important case.

It was Clyde's business to keep in touch with detective headquarters. He was more conscientious in that
work than was any other police reporter in Manhattan. For Clyde served more than the New York
Classic. He was a secret agent of The Shadow. Immediately upon learning of Cardona's destination,
Clyde had communicated with Burbank, hidden contact man who also served The Shadow. Thus The
Shadow, too, was arriving at the focal point.

Two courses lay open. To follow one, The Shadow could have entered the Vanderpool Apartments in
his guise of Lamont Cranston. As a friend of the police commissioner, he could have listened in on
Cardona's findings. But The Shadow had rejected that system for this night. Having missed Barth at the
Cobalt Club, he did not care to stroll in on the police investigation. The guise of Cranston was one that he
did not care to overstrain.

The second course was to arrive as The Shadow. That was the choice that he had taken. Hence the
supposed Lamont Cranston had become a gentleman in black: The Shadow. His course was taking him
toward the scene of mystery. If difficulties proved too great, The Shadow could rely upon Clyde Burke's
report, for the newspaper man was on the job. But with The Shadow, difficulties seldom proved
insurmountable.

A BLACKENED shape reached the paved alleyway beside the Vanderpool Apartments. Footsteps
were clicking on cement. A policeman was pacing this area. The Shadow could trace the man's
movements in the dark. On the right was the looming bulk of the Vanderpool Apartments, with its
scattering of lighted windows. On the left was the brick wall of an old warehouse building. This was solid
in its blackness.

The pacing officer neared the spot where The Shadow stood. A flashlight swept its beam along the wall.
The rays passed by the tall form that stood motionless against the wall. The officer missed sight of the
cloaked figure of The Shadow. His footsteps sounded down the alleyway.