"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 065 - The Chinese Disks" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"If you give me the lowdown on Spider Mertz," inserted Cardona, as Duff hesitated. "That will make you
useful enough to remain at large."

Duff looked about him in furtive fashion, almost as though suspecting the presence of spies from the
underworld. To the crook, headquarters was a place to be shunned. Even this secluded nook of an office
made him uneasy. At last, Duff glanced toward Cardona and put a final whine.

"I ain't no stoolie, Joe," was his plea. "Maybe I'd better take the rap. When a guy turns stoolie, the dicks
run him ragged. I ain't goin' to be no stoolie for -"

"Cut it, Duff," snapped Cardona. "This is a straight deal, if you deliver the goods. You'll be playing stool
pigeon, right enough, but on this one job. That's all. I won't need you after you've gone through with it."

"You mean that, Joe?"

"I said it, didn't I? Come on. Spill what you know. Tell me about Spider Mertz. What's his game?"

"I don't know, Joe," began Duff. "Wait" - he raised a scrawny hand when he saw the detective scowl - "I
can find it out for you. Honest, Joe. I saw Spider, down at Red Mike's, like you said. He'd been hidin'
out - an' he's got some mugs workin' for him."

"Who are they?"

"I don't know their names. A crew of gorillas, that's all I know. He ain't lookin' for more, neither. Layin'
low with the bunch he's got."

"Then why did he talk to you?"

"Because he knowed that I was good at spottin' the lay for a job. That's what Spider said, anyway. Told
me he knew a guy that could use me."

"Who?"

"He didn't say. I'm to meet the guy and -"

"Where?"

"I don't know yet."

CARDONA shifted. These statements seemed like an evasion. Duff saw that Cardona was suspecting
another stall. The scrawny crook made haste to correct the impression.

"There's somethin' big in back of it, Joe," whispered Duff, hoarsely. "There's a big shot hid somewhere.
Spider's workin' for him, I'm to work for him. I told Spider to count me in. All I'm waitin' for is the tip -
when I'm to meet up with the big shot an' where."

"Who'll give you the tip? Spider?"

"No. That's the part I don't know. I'm to stick around Red Mike's. See? Until some bozo shows up an'