"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 147 - The Crimson Phoenix" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

THE CRIMSON PHOENIX
by Maxwell Grant

As originally published in The Shadow Magazine, April 1st, 1938.

The Crimson Phoenix entangles The Shadow in claws dripping with the
poison
of international intrigue!


CHAPTER I

TEN GRAND

A MAN was walking slowly along the fashionable section of West End
Avenue.
The morning sunlight was not very strong, yet this furtive little man kept his
hat brim turned down as though to protect weak eyes from the slanting
sunshine.
His eyes were neither weak nor nearsighted. On the contrary, they blazed
with a ruthless light. He knew he was about to do something that would place
his
life in terrific peril. But his avarice and the itching desire for ten
thousand
dollars was stronger than his fear. He intended to deal himself into a grim
criminal game in which he was convinced he held all the aces.
The name of this broad-shouldered little crook was Leo Barry.
The street sign at the corner was marked Du Pont Place. Leo Barry turned
into a quiet street that was, if anything, more fashionable than West End
Avenue. Except for a florist shop on the corner, there was no evidence of
business or trade. Private dwellings lined Du Pont Place, the homes of people
of
wealth and social distinction.
That is, all except one.
Midway down the block was a house owned by the most notorious racketeer
in
Manhattan: "Duke" Duncan!
Duncan lived there openly, sneeringly. He had thought it a great joke to
house himself and his henchmen in such a spot. He had purchased the property
through a dummy. He owned it free and clear, paid his taxes promptly and
laughed
at the real-estate association and the police.
Well-known killers conferred with Duke Duncan and his lieutenant, "Snap"
Carlo. A staff of shrewd lawyers took care of the legal end for Duke. He and
his
gang had turned racketeering into a fine art. A score of brutal murders had
cut
down every trace of underworld opposition to Duke.
It was this powerful figure of crime that Leo Barry was planning to
visit.