"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 303 - The Curse of Thoth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

there in the lobby. Harry had other things to think about, as was always the case when he handled a
special mission for The Shadow, and particularly when he was staging a bluff, as at present.

The first factor was Kirky, the elevator man. Though the fellow had taken orders directly from the
information booth, he still considered that he had a few duties other than simply hoisting the elevator to
the sixth floor. For one thing, Kirky gave Harry a continuous scrutiny, all the way up; for another, he kept
the elevator at the sixth floor when he reached there, to see to it that the pretended Mr. Albersham went
to 6B and nowhere else.

This wasn't exactly what Harry wanted; in fact, it was something far from it.

Seeing the door marked 6B down at one end of the corridor, Harry purposely started in the opposite
direction, only to have Kirky boom after him:

"Apartment 6B is the other way, mister!"

So Harry turned the other way and past the elevator noted a side corridor which obviously led to some
rear apartments. Hoping Kirky had given up, Harry took to the side passage only to hear the same
booming voice carry after him.

"Not around that way, mister! Keep straight along to the end of the hall!"

Further stalling wouldn't have helped, so Harry turned back to 6B, at the same time regretting that he
hadn't been able to complete the survey. Getting the general layout of a strange building was always a
good beginning, but it wasn't wise to incur the disfavor of the hired help.

One thing, Harry did find out. The fire tower was in the center of the building, around in back of the
elevator, which was something rather unusual. The Alvara Apartments consisted of a structure which
could be termed all wings, Apartments A and B in one direction; C and D the other; with an unknown
quantity of other lettered doors back in the rear wings of the same building.

Right now, the only apartment that mattered was 6B. It had a bell button, so Harry gave it an imperious
ring and waited. The door was opened by a bowing man who looked like a secretary. The fellow said:
"Step right in, Mr. Albersham" and as Harry did, he heard Kirky close the door of the elevator. A
moment later the apartment door too was closed and Zerland's secretary was bowing Harry into a
sumptuous living room of a very sizable apartment.

Two men were seated there and Harry could have been blindfolded and still made the correct guess that
neither was Hugo Zerland. The secretary didn't introduce Harry to them, but just took it for granted that
he knew them. What was more, the secretary continued on through the living room, apparently to speak
to someone else who could only be Zerland. Besides, from the surprised mutters the two men gave when
they looked at Harry, it was obvious that they must be Albersham's partners, Barstow and Curvin.

"Good evening, gentlemen," declared Harry. "I take it that you must be Mr. Barstow and Mr. Curvin."

"I'm Geoffrey Barstow." The man who spoke came to his feet. "You are right; my friend here" - he gave
a sideward gesture - "is Arnold Curvin. But you aren't Edwin Albersham!"

Barstow was a blunt man, tall when he reared himself as he did now, though his shoulders had a natural
droop that hunched him into a rather portly appearance when seated. Barstow's face was broad and he