"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 116 - Intimidation,Inc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

Among those, however, were the letter and the notebook. With such
evidence
burned, it was not surprising that the newspapers accepted the police theory
that Meldon had murdered Lenning and then committed suicide. It was conceded
that Meldon must have been crazed, when he disposed of his holdings in
Dorchester Power & Light. It was believed that he had held some imaginary
grievance against Lenning and had slain the notary on that account. Under such
circumstances, Meldon's supposed suicide seemed logical.
By afternoon, the news was stale. The Evening Clarion did not run the
pictures of the dead men. Instead, it showed the portraits of four men who
were
to convene in important conference regarding the State exposition.
The first portrait was that of Mayor Jonathan Wrightley, a pompous
gentleman with side whiskers. The second was Hugh Bursard, owner of Station
MXDO; a long-faced man with sharp eyes and the high forehead of a thinker.
Bursard was highly recognized because of his nightly talks on civic progress;
which went on the air from half past eight until nine o'clock.
The third picture showed Elwood Clewiss, local lawyer who had recently
been elected district attorney. Clewiss was legal representative for the State
exposition. His picture showed him as a rugged type of man, with heavy brows,
straight mouth and hard, challenging jaw.
The last portrait was that of an elderly man whose thin face and narrow
forehead were topped by a brush of whitish hair. He was Newell Radbourne,
financier whose efforts had been sought to make the exposition possible.
Though
his interests took him throughout the State, Radbourne frequently made his
headquarters in Dorchester, where he was an important figure in banking
circles.
 There was oddity, however, in the fact that the pictures of Clewiss and
Radbourne were side by side. It happened that Clewiss was counsel for an
obscure inventor named Ray Kroot, who was suing the Interstate Textile Co. for
infringement of a patented rug-weaving machine.
Kroot was claiming damages in excess of two hundred thousand dollars; if
he won the case, Radbourne would be the loser. For, among the industries which
he controlled, Newell Radbourne held sole ownership of the textile company.
Fortunately, both Clewiss and Radbourne were tactful men; otherwise, they
might
have clashed, as members of the State exposition committee. Since the affairs
of
the exposition had nothing whatever to do with the patent case that Kroot had
instituted, the lawyer and the financier agreed separately to continue their
individual services to the exposition.


FOUR o'clock found three members of the committee gathered in a
conference
room at the Dorchester city hall. Mayor Wrightley was seated at the head of a
table; on either side were Hugh Bursard and Elwood Clewiss. While the mayor
was
sorting papers that pertained to contracts, Bursard and Clewiss chatted. One