"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 101 - The Gray Ghost" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

left, at lots of places along the Sound. This is his first murder, though.”

“Do the police know his identity?”

The station agent leaned closer, in the manner of a man who possessed inside information.

“There were detectives posted here to-night,” he undertoned. “Looking for a fellow named Culden.
Thought maybe he'd gone in on the nine twenty-six.”

“Would you know Culden if you saw him?”

The station agent shook his head.

“Not unless I was told who he was. Kind of medium build, the detectives said, with dark complexion.
There was a fellow looked like him on the seven twenty-six; but that couldn't have been Culden.”

The Shadow looked unconvinced. The station agent explained:

“Don't you see how it was, sir? The murder wasn't until eight o'clock; and there was a robbery at half
past eight. If a man had gone in on the seven twenty-six, he wouldn't have reached the Pennsylvania
Station until eight-twelve.”

“What if he had stopped off along the line?”

“This fellow didn't. He went all the way into New York. The baggage man told me about it when he
came back on the next trip.”

“The baggage man?”

“Sure. This fellow had a dog with him, so he had to ride into New York on the baggage car. It wasn't
much more than a pup. The baggage man said the pooch howled all the way into Pennsy Station. When
he got there, the fellow had to check the hound somewhere South. Yes, sir, I'll bet he had a rare time
with that pooch. Nice hound, though. Looked like a bird dog.”

“I suppose you told the detectives about the dog.”

“Yeah. But they weren't interested. They were looking for Culden. This inspector fellow, Cardona, said
that any guy carrying a dog with him wouldn't have been Culden.”

REMEMBERING that his hours were ended, the station agent moved back into the ticket office. The
Shadow strolled out to the platform and entered his coupe, which was parked beyond a line of high
bushes. Soon the ticket agent came from the station and locked the door behind him. He let the platform
lights remain illuminated because of the train due at ten minutes of twelve.
Within the darkness of the coupe, The Shadow delivered a whispered laugh. His visit to the station had
brought results. It fitted with a theory of his own, one at variance with Weston's.

The Shadow had placed Culden.

It was plain that Windler's secretary was connected with crime; but in a minor capacity that could not be
proved against him. The law would have a difficult time breaking down Culden's denials of complicity,