"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 260 - The Money Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

"Just a tin cash box," replied Bert in a puzzled tone. "I've seen Brune rummage through it often. I didn't
think there was anything important in it—"

THINGS interrupted wholesale. First, the click of the bedroom light switch; hard upon it, a hoarse shout
from Brune. In answer came an ugly snarl; then there was real commotion as Brune sprang deep into the
room to grab for someone he had found there.

Bert made a dash for the bedroom, yelling for Emmart to forget his notes and follow.

The fray was happening by a narrow window in the side wall of the bedroom. It looked like a struggle
between a turtle and an eel. The man with whom Brune grappled was thin and wiry, performing
contortions in his effort to get away. He wrestled loose just as Bert arrived, and in the fellow's clutch the
private dick saw the metal cash box that Brune had gone to get.

Coming next, Emmart saw the thief across Bert's shoulder. He recognized the pasty face under the tilted
visor of the cap above it and shouted:

"Wip Jandle!"

Bert knew the name. Wip was an ex-jockey, who had thrown so many races that he couldn't get another
job except as a member of the mob that bribed him. Since Wip had turned hoodlum, it wasn't surprising
to see him engaged in second-story thievery. The startling thing was the technique that Wip displayed.

He showed how he'd entered—by using the same route for exit, the little window right beside him. It
didn't look large enough for a midget, but Wip went through, one leg first, then the other, as though
mounting a horse. He performed the snakish action so quickly that Brune couldn't have gained another
hold on him but for the cash box that Wip carried under his arm.

So narrow was the window that the prize wedged crosswise, and before Wip could turn it around, Brune
clamped both hands upon the metal box and tried to wrench it away. Bounding to aid Brune, neither Bert
nor Emmart saw the thing that happened next.

They heard it, the repeated burst of a revolver that Wip snatched from his far pocket and fired at close
range into Brune's body. With a hard jolt, Brune fell back into the arms of Bert and Emmart, sagging as
they caught him.

There was a clatter from the cash box as Wip yanked it through the window, then a louder clang of steel
as the killer reached the fire escape just beyond.

Wip Jandle was a killer. Those shots were straight to Brune's heart, so close that they couldn't miss.

Letting Brune's body slump to the floor, Bert fired through the window. A shriek from the outside told
that he'd winged the escaping murderer. Reaching the window, Bert fired again, but Wip was starting
down the fire escape and a level of steel deflected Bert's fire.

Seeing that Bert couldn't possibly squeeze through the window, Emmart thought of a better route and
shouted for Bert to follow.

Out through the apartment they went, around by the hallway to the large window that opened directly to
the fire escape. Wrenching the window open, Emmart sprang through and aimed for a huddled shape he