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

THE BROADCAST

SHORTLY before eight o'clock that same evening, The Shadow was finishing
dinner in the dining room of the Dorchester House when an official car pulled
up in front. A plain-clothes man entered and inquired for Lamont Cranston.
When
informed that Mr. Cranston was in the dining room, the dick entered and
approached The Shadow.
The officer had a message from the mayor, to the effect that his honor
was
in the car outside and would like to have Mr. Cranston join him.
A few minutes later, The Shadow was in the car with Wrightley. The mayor
told the plain-clothes man to return to headquarters; through the speaking
tube
he ordered the chauffeur to drive to the building housing MXDO. As the car
rolled along, Wrightley began to talk.
"I have just seen Clewiss," said the mayor, in troubled tone. "He had
been
trying to get in touch with me ever since the trial this afternoon. Something
terrible has happened. Clewiss received another threat from Intimidation,
Incorporated!"
 "So that was it!" expressed The Shadow, in a tone of surprise. "I was
there with Bursard. We were both puzzled by the way Clewiss acted."
"He had to drop the case," explained Wrightley. "It was as good as won
for
Ray Kroot when Clewiss found a message among his papers. It threatened him
with
death!"
"How did the letter come there?"
"Clewiss can't explain it. He left some papers in the courtroom in the
morning; he had others with him when I went with him to the courthouse this
afternoon. The letter could have been in either batch. But that is
unimportant.
Our main objective is to reach Hugh Bursard before he begins his broadcast."
The Shadow understood. He knew that if Bursard chose to criticize the
trial, most of the blame would be placed upon Elwood Clewiss. It was plain
that
under the circumstances, Clewiss could not risk a personal interview with
Bursard. Therefore, he had chosen Mayor Wrightley as an intermediary.
The car reached the office building where MXDO was located. The Shadow
was
already familiar with this part of town; he observed, however, that the
building
was dark for seven floors. Only the eighth, the top floor, was lighted. The
broadcasting station was on that floor.
The car pulled up at a special entrance that was used only for the radio
station. The Shadow and the mayor went up by a special elevator, in a detached
portion of the building.