"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 242 - Formula for Crime" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

There were good reasons to invite Troy on a trip like this. Fanatic though the man might be,
he was a criminologist of some repute, and his theories on crime, though eccentric,
deserved some consideration. Still, Weston deemed it best to remind Troy that he was here
on sufferance only.

"Calm yourself, professor," said Weston. "Nothing has happened, so far. Remember, we
are acting merely on a tip-off."
Troy's eyes turned questioning.

"A tip-off?"

"Anonymous information," defined Weston, smiling at Troy's ignorance of police language.
"We don't know who phoned Inspector Cardona, or why. We must hear his report, before
forming further opinion."
The official car was stopping at the old garage. Weston and Troy alighted, to meet a stocky
man whose swarthy, noncommittal face identified him as Inspector Joe Cardona. The
inspector gave the commissioner a nod, but showed no surprise at seeing Weston's
companion. Professor Troy had been much in evidence of late, and Cardona had
conjectured that Troy had been playing for an invitation of the present sort.

"I was right about the address, commissioner," stated Cardona. "It's Bartier's, the wholesale
diamond merchant. But the place is as dead as Coney Island in the winter."
"That may be a bad sign," returned Weston. "Crooks have a way of keeping quiet when on
an important job."

"Burglar alarms don't keep quiet," reminded Cardona, "and Bartier Co. have a flock of them.
Anyway, I've posted my men, and we can have a look for ourselves. Across the street and
through the alley, commissioner."
The three emerged from the alley to find themselves near the corner where Bartier Co. were
located. The diamond merchants occupied the ground floor of a squatty old building which
had other wholesale jewelers on the floors above. The windows of the place were barred
with heavy iron shutters, and didn't promise much of a look inside.
Cardona suggested that they move along toward the front of the building and take
observations from the corner opposite. Weston was giving agreement by stepping in that
direction, when a tight hand clutched his sleeve. The hand was Troy's, and the professor
was using his other hand to point the opposite way.

"Behind the building, commissioner!" Troy's cackly tone was lowered to a sharp whisper.
"Isn't that another alleyway?"

"It is," put in Cardona. "A blind alley."
"All the better, then." Troy's whisper was gleeful, as he centered his argument on Cardona.
"It should end right at the back door of Bartier Co.!"

Inspector Cardona didn't like blind alleys and began to say so. Prejudice on such matters
did not suit Commissioner Weston. Hence, in authoritative style, Weston promptly sided
with Troy, and the three set out for the alley, as the professor had suggested.
A bit reluctant, Cardona finally compromised with his dislikes by raising his hand in signal.